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twistedtummies2 · 5 months

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Top 10 Portrayals of Smee

A while back, I did a list of my favorite portrayals of Captain Hook, the villain of J.M. Barrie’s classic story “Peter Pan.” I also, more recently, made a list of my favorite versions of the titular hero of the tale. Now, I want to shine some light on one of the more prominent side figures of the tale: Captain Hook’s right-hand man (or, depending on interpretation, perhaps his left-hand man), the pirate simply known as Smee. Mr. Smee is, arguably, one of the first great “henchmen” figures in English literature. Many great villains have accomplices and associates who aid them in their journeys, but the idea of a side character who works particularly close to the main villain, gives them someone to work through as an outlet of sorts, and often provides some comedic levity to scenes with their presence? As far as I can determine, this was a relatively new phenomenon in literature when “Peter Pan” was created. Smee is the original bumbling goon: he is loyal to Hook (at least for the most part), and he can be just as nasty as the other pirates when he chooses to be, but he’s generally considered something of a dimwitted softy, both in and out of universe. He’s the primary source of comic relief in the story, and lends a human, humorous edge to Hook and his pirates who, at least in the book, are a rather deplorable bunch. As a result, he’s one of the most recognizable and frequently focused-upon characters in many adaptations, yet he’s also one that seems somewhat unsung: only a select few versions of Smee have really “made it big” and become characters everyone recognizes or knows an actor for playing. I think it’s time to change that, and give the many loyal followers of the nefarious Captain Hook their rightful dues. After all the times they’ve had to rescue him from the Crocodile, they deserve it! So, without further ado, here are My Top 10 Portrayals of Smee!

10. Christopher Gauthier, from Once Upon a Time.

9. Tony Sympson, from the 1976 TV Musical.

8. Jim Gaffigan, from Peter Pan & Wendy.

7. Ed Gilbert, from Peter Pan and the Pirates.

6. The Version from Peter and the Starcatchers. (No illustration available. Again, I’m referring to the books, not the stage play based on the first story.)

5. Michael Nostrand, from the Styne-Charlap Musical. (The most famous stage musical version of the story. Much like Paul Schoeffler as Hook and Cathy Rigby as Peter, Nostrand has been playing this part off and on for decades now.)

4. Richard Briers, from the 2003 Film.

3. Joe E. Marks, from the 1950 Musical AND the Styne-Charlap Musical. (Marks first played the role opposite Boris Karloff as Hook in a 1950 musical treatment. He reprised the role in the completely different Styne-Charlap musical and originated the part there, opposite Cyril Ritchard as Hook.)

2. The Disney Version. (Originally voiced by Bill Thompson.)

1. Bob Hoskins, from Hook AND SyFy’s Neverland. (Especially the former.)

#list #countdown #favorites #best #top 10 #smee #peter pan #j.m. barrie #literature #movies #film #animation #tv #musical theatre #portrayals #actors #acting

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mceproductions · 5 months

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Worst of 2023 Music #1: Awkwafina and Daveed Diggs “The Scuttlebutt”

Oh Disney, when you go in on something you certainly know how to use the talent at your disposal.

This year’s addition to the growing live action remake board involves the fabled mermaid from under the sea.

Which had the old classics, brought to life in new creative ways.

But we got three new ones in addition to this. Although losing the song with Odo as the chef going after Sebastian was a churner.

We had the ok, with Prince Eric wondering his place in his island kingdom and how he wants to see more.

We had the really good featuring the best addition that utilizes the vocal prowess of its star to show what Ariel was thinking while she couldn’t speak.

And then this….

Scuttle the seagull was an unsung part of the original given personality by Buddy Hackett.

Here with the whole needing the underwater setting having to play a part. The bird was swapped for a northern gannet. And here we get Awkwafina a small doses comic that plays a larger part here.

But as her music taste was already not pleasant, here we get 2 full minutes of an eye gouging rap from Lin Manuel Miranda as her and Daveed Diggs mange to grind all momentum to a halt.

A scene in which scuttle lets Ariel know about Eric’s impending nuptials only took 12 seconds in the original. Gets stretched here for maximum Miranda usage.

The face close ups, with the uncanny valley of both Sebastian and Scuttle made all the worse.

I feel for the animators here, not pleasant having to salvage the worst song of the year. The comments on the audio only version made all the funnier.

SUM 22: Ariel did herself and the audience a favor by covering up the bird and the crab. Best way to save our eardrums.

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samthesimpssss · 2 years

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Hello love! I got a notification and saw you were doing matchups and I'd like to join 😈 (I hope I didn't misread and it's already open)

The Fandom I'd like a match-up for is Tokyo Revengers. My pronouns are She/Her and my gender preference is male and I'd like it to be romantic please <3.

Some positive traits: I'm overall very friendly and easy to approach. I'm very patient and slow to anger. I'm very empathetic and sympathetic, I have a very easy time putting myself in others' shoes and rarely judge others. I'm a good listener and very attentive to others' needs. I tend to remember little things about the people I love and if I'm passionate about something I will always put my 110% in. I'm a very not judgemental person and I think it's fair to say I'm quite mature as well. I can be spontaneous and go along with spontaneous ideas very well but I'm not impulsive. I'm also overall polite and will be very talkative with the right people.

Some negative traits: I have a bad habit of being a people pleaser and have an overall hard time saying no unless I'm asked something blatantly dangerous. I'm a big daydreamer so I often have my head in the clouds which can make me less attentive to my surroundings and may lead the to zone out every now and then. I'm a procrastinator and when I don't really like something I'll leave it until the very last moment to do. And lastly I tend to beat around the bush when I have to say something negative to someone or about someone to them or at least take a while to at least get to it because I try to sugarcoat it as much as possible. So... Basically not very straightforward.

My mbti and enneagram: INFP-T 9w1

And I don't know if you also wanted zodiac signs but I'll add it in anyway:

Sun: Taurus Moon: Pisces Rising: Cancer Venus: Pisces

Some of my hobbies:

-Ballet

-Playing piano and bass guitar

-Writing both books, poetry and songs

-Reading books

-Listening to music

-Visiting museums (I like both art and history)

-Swimming

-Sewing

-Cooking and baking

-Watching both Vintage movies and classic Disney movies

-Going around petting stray cats

-Recently I've been learning how to knit

Other random things about me:

I like animals. I like to go on unnecessarily long walks. Mind of embarrassing but sometimes when I'm nervous to go somewhere for whatever reason I have this little plushie I take with me in my bag. I collect pink snack packages?? It might've not been delicious but at least the packaging is cute 😪. I like pink in general. An unsung love language of mine is just feeding people? It ties in with my hobby for sure but with me you'll never go hungry. I like dressing up and doing my makeup. My favorite season is winter and I love love ice skating. I'm very affectionate both verbally and physically and will tone it down depending on what the person I'm with is comfortable with. Sometimes when I laugh too hard I snort a little :/, I can dance a Viennese waltz My favorite Disney princesses are Cinderella and Aurora and both are actually quite similar to me. One night when I was younger I decided to teach myself 1800s etiquette and now old ladies love me. When I'm excited about something I bounce on my toes a little, I'm adept at flower language and every summer I get up early to pick some pretty ones and press them, only one of each though. I can sing a little but don't expect a power ballad out of me :(. I knit my neighbours cat a little hat. I like exploring local markets for trinkets. I cry pretty easily. I think that's everything I can think of at the moment.

I hope that's enough!

Thank you so much <3

-🦢

I have match you up with…

Manjiro Sano!

- his carefree nature + You = a relationship full of adventures. Y’all will just never be bored with each other

- Expect him to tease you when you snort but he does it lovingly and think it’s cute, he thinks everything that you do is cute—

- he would love to go ice skating with you in the winter, just because he has an excuse to hold your hand when skating :)

- he finds you feeding him very enjoyable. What can I say he likes to be taken care of :)

- he will gladly help you knit a hat for your neighbour’s cat, just so he can spend more time with you :D

- but when you do end up crying for whatever reason, he will always be there for you to comfort you with open arms

“There there my princess, is everything all right? Oh just a bad day? Well… would you like to go for a walk with me? It will help you feel better hmm?”

#tokyo revengers headcanons #mikey sano #tokyo revengers sano manjiro #anime matchups #Tokyo Revengers #tokyo revengers matchup

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heroicadventurists · 2 years

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MCU Phase 5 Most Anticipated

10.

Although this is my #10 most anticipated, I am still looking forward to this show. I really liked Echo’s portrayal in Hawkeye, especially her fight sequences. Other than that, I don’t know where they are going with this show, so that’s why it’s at my # 10 spot. I’ll definitely be tuning in though.

I’m mainly interested in this movie to see what happened with US Agent. Hate him or love him, John Walker was entertaining and so complex in Captain America and The Winter Soldier. It’ll be interesting to see who rounds out the team.

it was Agatha all aloonnnggg. Agatha was truly captivating in Wandavision and I’m excited to see where they go with this show. Does it pick up where it left off, or will we go back in time and learn Agatha’s entire backstory. There is a lot you can do with this character, and hopefully Wanda will make a guest appearance.

This show moved up my most anticipated list after watching the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever trailer. The scene where she is creating her armor ‘Ironman style’ looked amazing. I can’t wait to see what she brings to the MCU.

This is the last hurrah for the Guardians of the Galaxy as we currently know them. I have thoroughly enjoyed the first two volumes, so I have high hopes for this film. This film will most definitely be emotional and put an end to James Gunn’s tenure at Marvel.

This is our first Captain America movie sans Steve Rogers and it’s exciting to see what Sam Wilson brings to the mantle. I’m looking forward to learning more about Isaiah Bradley (hopefully) and it’ll be exciting to see another hero earn his wings (Joaquin Torres). We may also see the return of Red Skull, an iconic Captain America villain.

It has been 18 years since Blade has been on the big screen, even though Blade laid the groundwork for the MCU. Per Indiewire, “ Although “Blade” wasn’t an immediate critical success, the future cult classic was a surprise box office hit for Marvel, earning $131 million against a budget of $45 million budget. The “Blade” trilogy went on to earn a combined $415 million. In many ways, it saved Marvel’s cinema prospects entirely, as well as revived the superhero genre,” Insider says. “‘Blade’ was a moral victory for Marvel, finally establishing it as a rising force in Hollywood. It demonstrated that audiences could be drawn towards Marvel’s C list characters.” Blade is an unsung hero for Marvel Cinema and it’s exciting to see him back in the fold.

We’re currently in The Multiverse Saga and Loki has done a lot to usher the Multiverse into the MCU. Between The Multiverse and Kang, Loki is arguably the most important show on Disney +

This show makes it to my # 2 most anticipated for a variety of reasons. 1st-this show will be 18 episodes, making this feel like a proper television show. 2nd-Daredevil and Kingpin being included in the MCU brings hope that we will see some of our other favorite characters enter the MCU as mainstays (Agents of Shield, Cloak and Dagger, The Runaways, Punisher, Misty Knight, Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, Iron Fist, Colleen Wing, The Hand). 3rd-it’ll be interesting to see Disney’s interpretation of the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen. 4th-Daredevil was a wonderful show on Netflix so it’s exciting that his story will continue

This storyline is iconic and MCU fans have been waiting for it’s adaption the moment Skrulls were introduced in the MCU. It’ll be fun to see who has been a Skrull this entire time (outside of Nick Fury & Maria Hill) and what the real Nick Fury has been doing on the moon.

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kylesvariouslistsandstuff · 3 months

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An aesthetic I often think about... The Golden Age of Hollywood, particularly the animation and cartoons, but revisited through a late '80s/early '90s lens...

Yeah, that was a thing circa 1988-1994ish. A real nostalgia rush for the way movies used to be made and how things used to look, but reinvented with those signature offbeat qualities of the late '80s and the tech/effects they had on hand.

In a way, Robert Zemeckis' WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT - featuring exemplary animation directed by Richard Williams and an unsung Dale Baer - and Tim Burton's BATMAN really ushered in this era. Throwback films like the INDIANA JONES series already existed by this point, but I feel it was movies like these that really started a brief movement of sorts.

The former reminded audiences that it was not only cool to like cartoons again, but that the old favorites were actually pretty neat. After Roger Rabbit, you saw revivals in Looney Tunes and you saw many TV cartoons made in a similar vein, ending a frustrating era where most cartoons on TV were kidvid toy commercials. This was also greatly helped by Disney releasing their animated classics and cartoon shorts on video for the first time during this era, and soon Warner Bros. and Turner were releasing retrospective VHS and LaserDisc compilations pulling from their vast libraries of animated shorts. Especially w/ character birthdays coming up!

The latter lead to a bunch of pulp-style superhero/action movies, though that aesthetic seemed to quickly flame out by the mid-1990s. THE ROCKETEER went down as a cult classic, while THE SHADOW, THE PHANTOM, and others just couldn't cut it at the box office. Curiously, there was also a BRENDA STARR, REPORTER movie - simply titled BRENDA STARR - that was filmed in 1986 (it's the image of the woman on top of the windowsill, high off the ground), but wasn't released in the U.S. until 1992. While it was a big critical and commercial flop, this campy take on the 1940s comic strip kind of beat this wave to the punch? There was also a CAPTAIN AMERICA movie partially set during World War II made after the success of Tim Burton's BATMAN, too, one that also had a hard time getting released after it was completed.

It all just happened to come out around the same time.

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myfrenzi · 7 months

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Soundtracks that Elevate OTT Content

Elevating the OTT Experience: Unveiling the Magic of Movie Soundtracks

When you watch a movie or a web series on your favorite OTT platform, what’s one thing that can instantly transport you to another world, stir your emotions, or make your heart race with excitement? It’s the incredible power of a well-composed soundtrack. In this blog, we’ll delve into the mesmerizing world of movie soundtracks and how they enhance the Best movies on OTT viewing experience.

The Art of Musical Storytelling

Hans Zimmer’s Epic Scores — Hans Zimmer is a legendary composer known for his powerful and epic compositions. His music for movies like “Inception” and “The Dark Knight” adds layers of intensity and emotion.

John Williams’ Timeless Classics — John Williams is synonymous with iconic movie music. His work on films like “Star Wars” and “Jurassic Park” has become a part of cinematic history.

Emotional Resonance

Thomas Newman’s Subtlety — Thomas Newman’s compositions, such as those in “American Beauty” and “The Shawshank Redemption,” beautifully capture the nuances of human emotions.

Yann Tiersen’s Quirky Charm — Yann Tiersen’s whimsical score for “Amélie” brings out the quirkiness and wonder of the film’s protagonist.

Musical Diversity

Ramin Djawadi’s Musical Universes — Ramin Djawadi’s ability to create unique musical identities for shows like “Game of Thrones” and “Westworld” is nothing short of genius.

Ludwig Göransson’s Eclecticism — Ludwig Göransson’s work on “The Mandalorian” blends genres seamlessly, taking us to the outer reaches of the Star Wars galaxy.

OTT Magic

OTT platforms curate an incredible collection of movies with awe-inspiring soundtracks. They recognize the importance of music in storytelling and ensure that viewers have access to some of the best movies with remarkable scores.

Why Soundtracks Matter

A well-crafted movie soundtrack serves multiple purposes:

Enhancing Emotions — It can make you feel joy, sorrow, fear, or excitement more intensely.

Building Atmosphere — It creates the perfect ambiance for the story, whether it’s a tense thriller or a heartwarming drama.

Character Themes — Memorable character themes, like Indiana Jones’ iconic tune, make the characters more relatable and iconic.

Highlighting Moments — It emphasizes pivotal moments, like the suspenseful silence before a jump scare in a horror movie.

The magic of movie soundtracks lies in their ability to elevate the viewing experience. They are the unsung heroes of cinema, working behind the scenes to make moments unforgettable. So, the next time you’re immersed in an OTT movie, take a moment to appreciate the incredible work of the composers who bring these stories to life.

FAQs

Where can I find these movies with amazing soundtracks on OTT platforms?You can discover movies with fantastic soundtracks on popular OTT platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Disney+.

Do composers create original music for every film? Yes, most films have original scores composed specifically for them to match the story and characters.

Can I listen to these soundtracks separately? Many movie soundtracks are available on music streaming platforms, allowing you to enjoy them independently.

Do soundtracks win awards? Absolutely! Movie soundtracks often receive recognition at prestigious awards ceremonies like the Oscars and Grammy Awards.

Who is your favorite movie composer, and what’s your all-time favorite soundtrack? Share your thoughts and let us know which movie composer and soundtrack you love the most!

#ott #web series #movie #movies

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shortkingzuko · 4 years

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You think space is groovy af and you love doughnuts and wear Nike stuff and ur favorite Disney movie is UP

before i comment on anything else please tell me why you think i wear sports paraphernalia so that i can completely change everything about that aspect of my personality

#answered #anon #im gay i refuse to do sports #but YES i love space sadly many doughnuts make my stomach hurt #my fav disney movie is treasure planet THE UNSUNG CLASSIC !!!#oh but that does aid in the space thing lol #thank u for sending in these vibes !!!!#anonymous

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agentnico · 3 years

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The Mitchells vs. The Machines (2021) Review

This new film warns of the dangers of tech consumption yet it appears on a streaming service that’s entire business model is based upon screen addiction with their endless binge worthy content. As they say the irony is most definitely present!

Plot: A quirky, dysfunctional family's road trip is upended when they find themselves in the middle of the robot apocalypse and suddenly become humanity's unlikeliest last hope.

A new animated film produced by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller who are yet to make a miss, having made a career out of taking familiar formulas and turning them upside down on their heads, whether it be 21 Jump Street that took the idea of the original TV show and gave it more energy and modernistic humour, to The Lego Movie that took the excuse of squeezing more money out of a popular children’s brand and actually made a well made movie and then there is Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse which basically went and created its own animation style inspired by graphic novels. These guys have a very original voice in Hollywood and they prove it time and time again. Their new Netflix animated venture The Mitchells vs. The Machines is no exception.

I watched this film with my girlfriend and the most recent animated feature we watched together was Soul, which was one of my favourite films last year for its emotional heft and good hearted message, and I am not at all sorry to embarrass her and report that my girlfriend balled her eyes out at that movie. Well wouldn’t you know the same thing happened here with The Mitchells vs The Machines. And honestly it caught me off guard, as this movie is really funny and has that fast paced high-energy load of constant jokes being thrown at you right from the get-go similarly to The Lego Movie that when the dramatic scenes do strike they surprise you and so one moment I’m chuckling away and the next I’m staring at my girlfriend who’s eyes have turned into Niagara Falls. Would have taken me nothing to get a canoe and go down that stream whacking her cheeks with my paddles! However her tears were well founded as behind the comedy and the central plot revolving around this alien invasion is a tale about a father and his daughter and them reconnecting and it reminded my girlfriend of her with her dad but even in itself this is a plot point that many audiences can connect with and this element is handled super well in the film. Also helps that the voice actors for these two characters - Danny McBride and Abbi Jacobson - share great chemistry, or do I call it VOCAL chemistry?... Is that a thing? Can I say that? Do I make sense or am I a fool? The likelihood is the latter, but I digress. Nevertheless with this emotional thread I bet Disney is gutted they didn’t acquire the rights to this movie as it would have fit perfectly in their Pixar catalogue.

Typical to other Phil Lord and Chris Miller produced animated projects, the animation in this film looks super unique. The blend of CGI with 2D motion drawings scribbled over many shots make it look as if the lead character Katie, a tech-heavy arts college student is literally doodling on each frame, just like with filters and captions that appear on our phone screens in real life. Overall the film is directed really well and the comedic timing is spot on with so many highlight sequences, whether its the goofy short films that Katie makes from documenting her family’s disastrous road trip that includes traffic jam road rage and a seven hour mule tour gone wrong where we unfortunately lose the unsung hero that is Prancer to the canyon, to then the weirdly intense scene where the classic childrens toys Furbies are turned into monsters that act like gremlins, or Olivia Colman’s villainous Siri-type phone AI passive-aggressively being furious and cranky in her evil robot lair that looks like it was designed by Pink Floyd or Daft Punk. There’s so much attention to detail packed into this film and a lot of it is just random additions that are added for the sake of fun, and the entire thing reminded me of the new co-op video game that me and my girlfriend have been playing recently called It Takes Two (which I highly recommend!!) which to be honest shares a lot in common with the spirit of this film. It’s all so CONNECTED!! Honestly the only reason I referenced It Takes Two is cause me and my girlfriend have been enjoying it immensely and I needed to find a pointless excuse to share some non-paid unnecessary advertising for this game.

The Mitchells vs The Machines is an exciting and hilarious family adventure that has something for everyone, and to be honest is a welcome treat for our current pandemic times. I loike it a lot, it’s noice!

Overall score: 8/10

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the-hunchback-of-notre-dame · 3 years

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‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame’ at 25: An Oral History of Disney’s Darkest Animated Classic

Posted on Slashfilm on Monday, June 21st, 2021 by Josh Spiegel

“This Is Going to Change Your Life”

The future directors of The Hunchback of Notre Dame were riding high from the success of Beauty and the Beast. Or, at least, they were happy to be finished.

Gary Trousdale, director: After Beauty and the Beast, I was exhausted. Plus, Kirk and I were not entirely trusted at first, because we were novices. I was looking forward to going back to drawing.

Kirk Wise, director: It was this crazy, wonderful roller-coaster ride. I had all this vacation time and I took a couple months off.

Gary Trousdale: A little later, it was suggested: “If you want to get back into directing, start looking for a project. You can’t sit around doing nothing.”

Kirk Wise: [Songwriters] Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty had a pitch called Song of the Sea, a loose retelling of the Orpheus myth with humpback whales. I thought it was very strong.

Gary Trousdale: We were a few months in, and there was artwork and a rough draft. There were a couple tentative songs, and we were getting a head of steam.

Kirk Wise: The phone rang. It was Jeffrey [Katzenberg, then-chairman of Walt Disney Studios], saying, “Drop everything. I got your next picture: The Hunchback of Notre Dame.”

Gary Trousdale: “I’ve already got Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz. You’re going to do this.” It wasn’t like we were given a choice. It was, “Here’s the project. You’re on.”

Kirk Wise: I was pleased that [Jeffrey] was so excited about it. I think the success of Beauty and the Beast had a lot to do with him pushing it our way. It would’ve been crazy to say no.

Gary Trousdale: What [Kirk and I] didn’t know is that Alan and Stephen were being used as bait for us. And Jeffrey was playing us as bait for Alan and Stephen.

Alan Menken, composer: Jeffrey made reference to it being Michael Eisner’s passion project, which implied he was less enthused about it as a story source for an animated picture.

Stephen Schwartz, lyricist: They had two ideas. One was an adaptation of Hunchback and the other was about whales. We chose Hunchback. I’d seen the [Charles Laughton] movie. Then I read the novel and really liked it.

Peter Schneider, president of Disney Feature Animation (1985-99): I think what attracted Stephen was the darkness. One’s lust for something and one’s power and vengeance, and this poor, helpless fellow, Quasimodo.

Roy Conli, co-producer: I was working at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles, doing new play development. I was asked if I’d thought about producing animation. I said, “Yeah, sure.”

Don Hahn, producer: The goose had laid lots of golden eggs. The studio was trying to create two units so they could have multiple films come out. Roy was tasked with something hard, to build a crew out of whole cloth.

Kirk Wise: The idea appealed to me because [of] the setting and main character. I worked with an elder story man, Joe Grant, [who] goes back to Snow White. He said, “Some of the best animation ideas are about a little guy with a big problem.” Hunchback fit that bill.

Gary Trousdale: It’s a story I always liked. When Jeffrey said, “This is going to change your life,” Kirk and I said, “Cool.” When I was a kid, I [had an] Aurora Monster Model of Quasimodo lashed to the wheel. I thought, “He’s not a monster.”

Don Hahn: It’s a great piece of literature and it had a lot of elements I liked. The underdog hero. [He] was not a handsome prince. I loved the potential.

Gary Trousdale: We thought, “What are we going to do to make this dark piece of literature into a Disney cartoon without screwing it up?”

Peter Schneider: The subject matter is very difficult. The conflict was how far to go with it or not go with it. This is basically [about] a pederast who says “Fuck me or you’ll die.” Right?

“We Were Able to Take More Chances”

Wise and Trousdale recruited a group of disparate artists from the States and beyond to bring the story of Quasimodo the bell-ringer to animated life.

Paul Brizzi, sequence director: We were freshly arrived from Paris.

Gaëtan Brizzi, sequence director: [The filmmakers] were looking for a great dramatic prologue, and they couldn’t figure [it] out. Paul and I spent the better part of the night conceiving this prologue. They said, “You have to storyboard it. We love it.”

Roy Conli: We had two amazing artists in Paul and Gaëtan Brizzi who became spiritual leaders in the production. They were so incredible.

Gaëtan Brizzi: [“The Bells of Notre Dame”] was not supposed to be a song first.

Paul Brizzi: The prologue was traditional in the Disney way. Gaëtan and I were thinking of German expressionism to emphasize the drama. I’m not sure we could do that today.

Paul Kandel, voice of Clopin: They were toying with Clopin being the narrator. So they wrote “The Bells of Notre Dame” to open the movie.

Stephen Schwartz: [Alan and I] got called into a presentation, and on all these boards [was] laid out “The Bells of Notre Dame.” We musicalized the story they put up there. We used the pieces of dialogue they invented for Frollo and the other characters. I wrote lyrics that described the narrative. It was very exciting. I had never written a song like that.

Kirk Wise: Early on, we [took] a research trip with the core creative team to Paris. We spent two weeks all over Notre Dame. They gave us unrestricted access, going down into the catacombs. That was a huge inspiration.

Don Hahn: To crawl up in the bell towers and imagine Quasimodo there, to see the bells and the timbers, the scale of it all is unbelievable.

Kirk Wise: One morning, I was listening to this pipe organ in this shadowy cathedral, with light filtering through the stained-glass windows. The sound was so powerful, I could feel it thudding in my chest. I thought, “This is what the movie needs to feel like.”

Brenda Chapman, story: It was fun to sit in a room and draw and think up stuff. I liked the idea of this lonely character up in a bell tower and how we could portray his imagination.

Kathy Zielinski, supervising animator, Frollo: It was the earliest I’ve ever started on a production. I was doing character designs for months. I did a lot of design work for the gargoyles, as a springboard for the other supervisors.

James Baxter, supervising animator, Quasimodo: Kirk and Gary said, “We’d like you to do Quasimodo.” [I thought] that would be such a cool, amazing thing to do. They wanted this innocent vibe to him. Part of the design process was getting that part of his character to read.

Will Finn, head of story/supervising animator, Laverne: Kirk and Gary wanted me on the project. Kirk, Gary, and Don Hahn gave me opportunities no one else would have, and I am forever grateful.

Kathy Zielinski: I spent several months doing 50 or 60 designs [for Frollo]. I looked at villainous actors. Actually, one was Peter Schneider. [laughing] Not to say he’s a villain, but a lot of the mannerisms and poses. “Oh, that looks a little like Peter.”

James Baxter: I was doing design work on the characters with Tony Fucile, the animator on Esmerelda. I think Kirk and Gary felt Beauty and the Beast had been disparate and the characters weren’t as unified as they wanted.

Kathy Zielinski: Frollo stemmed from Hans Conried [the voice of Disney’s Captain Hook]. He had a longish nose and a very stern-looking face. Frollo was modeled a little bit after him.

Will Finn: The team they put together was a powerhouse group – Brenda Chapman, Kevin Harkey, Ed Gombert, and veterans like Burny Mattinson and Vance Gerry. I felt funny being their “supervisor.”

Kathy Zielinski: Half my crew was in France, eight hours ahead. We were able to do phone calls. But because of the time difference, our end of the day was their beginning of the morning. I was working a lot of late hours, because [Frollo] was challenging to draw.

Kirk Wise: Our secret weapon was James Baxter, who animated the ballroom sequence [in Beauty and the Beast] on his own. He had a unique gift of rotating characters in three-dimensional space perfectly.

Gary Trousdale: James Baxter is, to my mind, one of the greatest living animators in the world.

James Baxter: I’ve always enjoyed doing things that were quite elaborate in terms of camera movement and three-dimensional space. I’m a glutton for punishment, because those shots are very hard to do.

Gary Trousdale: In the scene with Quasimodo carrying Esmeralda over his shoulder, climbing up the cathedral, he looks back under his arms, snarling at the crowd below. James called that his King Kong moment.

As production continued, Roy Conli’s position shifted, as Don Hahn joined the project, and Jeffrey Katzenberg left Disney in heated fashion in 1994.

Roy Conli: Jeffrey was going to create his own animation studio. Peter Schneider was interested in maintaining a relationship with Don Hahn. We were into animation, ahead of schedule. They asked Don if he would produce and if I would run the studio in Paris.

Don Hahn: Roy hadn’t done an animated film before. I was able to be a more senior presence. I’d worked with Kirk and Gary before, which I enjoy. They’re unsung heroes of these movies.

Kirk Wise: The [production] pace was more leisurely. As leisurely as these things can be. We had more breathing room to develop the storyboards and the script and the songs.

Gary Trousdale: Jeffrey never liked characters to have facial hair. No beards, no mustaches, nothing. There’s original designs of Gaston [with] a little Errol Flynn mustache. Jeffrey hated it. “I don’t want any facial hair.” Once he left, we were like, “We could give [Phoebus] a beard now.”

Kirk Wise: The ballroom sequence [in Beauty] gave us confidence to incorporate more computer graphics into Hunchback. We [had] to create the illusion of a throng of thousands of cheering people. To do it by hand would have been prohibitive, and look cheap.

Stephen Schwartz: Michael Eisner started being more hands-on. Michael was annoyed at me for a while, because when Jeffrey left, I accepted the job of doing the score for Prince of Egypt. I got fired from Mulan because of it. But once he fired me, Michael couldn’t have been a more supportive, positive colleague on Hunchback.

Kirk Wise: [The executives] were distracted. We were able to take more chances than we would have under the circumstances that we made Beauty and the Beast.

Don Hahn: Hunchback was in a league of its own, feeling like we [could] step out and take some creative risks. We could have done princess movies forever, and been reasonably successful. Our long-term survival relied on trying those risks.

One sticking point revolved around Notre Dame’s gargoyles, three of whom interact with Quasimodo, but feel more lighthearted than the rest of the dark story.

Gary Trousdale: In the book and several of the movies, Quasimodo talks to the gargoyles. We thought, “This is Disney, we’re doing a cartoon. The gargoyles can talk back.” One thing led to another and we’ve got “A Guy Like You.”

Kirk Wise: “A Guy Like You” was literally created so we could lighten the mood so the audience wasn’t sitting in this trough of despair for so long.

Stephen Schwartz: Out of context, the number is pretty good. I think I wrote some funny lyrics. But ultimately it was a step too far tonally for the movie and it has been dropped from the stage version.

Gary Trousdale: People have been asking for a long time: are they real? Are they part of Quasimodo’s personality? There were discussions that maybe Quasimodo is schizophrenic. We never definitively answered it, and can argue convincingly both ways.

Jason Alexander, voice of Hugo: I wouldn’t dream of interfering with anyone’s choice on that. It’s ambiguous for a reason and part of that reason is the viewers’ participation in the answer. Whatever you believe about it, I’m going to say you’re right.

Brenda Chapman: I left before they landed on how [to play] the gargoyles. My concern was, what are the rules? Are they real? Are they in his imagination? What can they do? Can they do stuff or is it all Quasi? I looked at it a little askance in the finished film. I wasn’t sure if I liked how it ended up…[Laverne] with the boa on the piano.

Kirk Wise: There was a component of the audience that felt the gargoyles were incompatible with Hunchback. But all of Disney’s movies, including the darkest ones, have comic-relief characters. And Disney was the last person to treat the written word as gospel.

“A Fantastic Opportunity”

After a successful collaboration on Pocahontas, Menken and Schwartz worked on turning Victor Hugo’s tragic story into a musical.

Alan Menken: The world of the story was very appealing, and it had so much social relevance and cultural nuance.

Stephen Schwartz: The story lent itself quite well to musicalization because of the extremity of the characters and the emotions. There was a lot to sing about. There was a great milieu.

Alan Menken: To embed the liturgy of the Catholic Church into a piece of music that’s operatic and also classical and pop-oriented enriches it in a very original way. Stephen was amazing. He would take the theme from the story and specifically set it in Latin to that music.

Stephen Schwartz: The fact that we were doing a piece set in a church allowed us to use all those elements of the Catholic mass, and for Alan to do all that wonderful choral music.

Alan Menken: The first creative impulse was “Out There.” I’m a craftsman. I’m working towards a specific assignment, but that was a rare instance where that piece of music existed.

Stephen Schwartz: I would come in with a title, maybe a couple of lines for Alan to be inspired by. We would talk about the whole unit, its job from a storytelling point of view. He would write some music. I could say, “I liked that. Let’s follow that.” He’d push a button and there would be a sloppy printout, enough that I could play it as I was starting the lyrics.

Roy Conli: Stephen’s lyrics are absolutely phenomenal. With that as a guiding light, we were in really good shape.

Stephen Schwartz: Alan played [the “Out There” theme] for me, and I really liked it. I asked for one change in the original chorus. Other than that, the music was exactly as he gave it to me.

Gary Trousdale: Talking with these guys about music is always intimidating. There was one [lyric] Don and I both questioned in “Out There,” when Frollo is singing, “Why invite their calumny and consternation?” Don and I went, “Calumny?” Kirk said, “Nope, it’s OK, I saw it in an X-Men comic book.” I went, “All right! It’s in a comic book! It’s good.”

Stephen Schwartz: Disney made it possible for me to get into Notre Dame before it opened to the public. I’d climb up the steps to the bell tower. I’d sit there with my yellow pad and pencil. I’d have the tune for “Out There” in my head, and I would look out at Paris, and be Quasimodo. By the time we left Paris, the song was written.

Kirk Wise: Stephen’s lyrics are really smart and literate. I don’t think the comical stuff was necessarily [his] strongest area. But this movie was a perfect fit, because the power of the emotions were so strong. Stephen just has a natural ability to connect with that.

Will Finn: The directors wanted a funny song for the gargoyles and Stephen was not eager to write it. He came to me and Irene Mecchi and asked us to help him think of comedy ideas for “A Guy Like You,” and we pitched a bunch of gags.

Jason Alexander: Singing with an orchestra the likes of which Alan and Stephen and Disney can assemble is nirvana. It’s electrifying and gives you the boost to sing over and over. Fortunately, everyone was open to discovery. I love nuance and intention in interpretation. I was given wonderful freedom to find both.

Stephen Schwartz: “Topsy Turvy,” it’s one of those numbers of musical theater where you can accomplish an enormous amount of storytelling. If you didn’t have that, you’d feel you were drowning in exposition. When you put it in the context of the celebration of the Feast of Fools, you could get a lot of work done.

Paul Kandel: The first time I sang [“Topsy Turvy”] through, I got a little applause from the orchestra. That was a very nice thing to happen and calm me down a little bit.

Brenda Chapman: Poor Kevin Harkey must’ve worked on “Topsy Turvy” for over a year. Just hearing [singing] “Topsy turvy!” I thought, “I would shoot myself.” It’s a fun song, but to listen to that, that many times. I don’t know if he ever got to work on anything else.

Paul Kandel: There were places where I thought the music was squarer than it needed to be. I wanted to round it out because Clopin is unpredictable. Is he good? Is he bad? That’s what I was trying to edge in there.

Kirk Wise: “God Help the Outcasts” made Jeffrey restless. I think he wanted “Memory” from Cats. Alan and Stephen wrote “Someday.” Jeffrey said, “This is good, but it needs to be bigger!” Alan was sitting at his piano bench, and Jeffrey was next to him. Jeffrey said, “When I want it bigger, I’ll nudge you.” Alan started playing and Jeffrey was jabbing him in the ribs. “Bigger, bigger!”

Don Hahn: In terms of what told the story better, one song was poetic, but the other was specific. “Outcasts” was very specific about Quasimodo. “Someday” was “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.”

Kirk Wise: When Don watched the movie, he said, “It’s working pretty well. But ‘Someday,’ I don’t know. It feels like she’s yelling at God.” We played “God Help the Outcasts” for him and Don said, “Oh, this is perfect.” That song is the signature of the entire movie.

Don Hahn: “Someday” was lovely. But I had come off of working with Howard Ashman, and I felt, “This doesn’t move the plot forward much, does it?” We ended up with “Someday” as an end-credits song, which was fortunate. ‘Cause they’re both good songs.

Kirk Wise: It was all about what conveys the emotion of the scene and the central theme of the movie best. “God Help the Outcasts” did that.

Everyone agrees on one point.

Stephen Schwartz: Hunchback is Alan’s best score. And that’s saying a lot, because he’s written a whole bunch of really good ones.

Gary Trousdale: With Hunchback, there were a couple of people that said, “This is why I chose music as a career.” Alan and Stephen’s songs are so amazing, so that’s really something.

Paul Kandel: It has a beautiful score.

Jason Alexander: It has the singularly most sophisticated score of most of the animated films of that era.

Roy Conli: The score of Hunchback is one of the greatest we’ve done.

Don Hahn: This is Alan’s most brilliant score. The amount of gravitas Alan put in the score is amazing.

Alan Menken: It’s the most ambitious score I’ve ever written. It has emotional depth. It’s a different assignment. And it was the project where awards stopped happening. It’s almost like, “OK, now you’ve gone too far.”

Stephen Schwartz: It’s astonishing that Alan has won about 173 Academy Awards, and the one score he did not win for is his best score.

The film featured marquee performers singing covers of “God Help the Outcasts” and “Someday”. But one of the most famous performers ever nearly brought those songs to life.

Alan Menken: I met Michael Jackson when we were looking for someone to sing “A Whole New World” for Aladdin. Michael wanted to co-write the song. I could get a sense of who Michael was. He was a very unique, interesting individual…in his own world.

I get a call out of nowhere from Michael’s assistant, when Michael was at the Four Seasons Hotel in New York. He had to [deal with] allegations about inappropriate behavior with underage kids, and the breakup with Lisa Marie Presley. He’s looking to change the subject. And he obviously loves Disney so much. So I mentioned Hunchback. He said he’d love to come to my studio, watch the movie and talk about it. So we got in touch with Disney Animation. They said, “Meet with him! If he likes it…well, see what he says.” [laughing]

There’s three songs. One was “Out There,” one was “God Help the Outcasts,” one was “Someday.” Michael said, “I would like to produce the songs and record some of them.” Wow. Okay. What do we do now? Michael left. We got in touch with Disney. It was like somebody dropped a hot poker into a fragile bowl with explosives. “Uh, we’ll get back to you about that.”

Finally, predictably, the word came back, “Disney doesn’t want to do this with Michael Jackson.” I go, “OK, could someone tell him this?” You can hear a pin drop, no response, and nobody did [tell him]. It fell to my late manager, Scott Shukat, to tell Michael or Michael’s attorney.

In retrospect, it was the right decision. [But] Quasimodo is a character…if you look at his relationships with his family and his father, I would think there’s a lot of identification there.

“They’re Never Going to Do This Kind of Character Again”

The film is known for the way it grapples with the hypocrisy and lust typified by the villainous Judge Frollo, whose terrifying song “Hellfire” remains a high point of Disney animation.

Gary Trousdale: Somebody asked me recently: “How the hell did you get ‘Hellfire’ past Disney?” It’s a good question.

Alan Menken: When Stephen and I wrote “Hellfire,” I was so excited by what we accomplished. It really raised the bar for Disney animation. It raised the bar for Stephen’s and my collaboration.

Stephen Schwartz: I thought the would never let me get away with [“Hellfire”]. And they never asked for a single change.

Alan Menken: Lust and religious conflict. Now more than ever, these are very thorny issues to put in front of the Disney audience. We wanted to go at it as truthfully as possible.

Stephen Schwartz: When Alan and I tackled “Hellfire,” I did what I usually did: write what I thought it should be and assume that [Disney would] tell me what I couldn’t get away with. But they accepted exactly what we wrote.

Don Hahn: Every good song score needs a villain’s moment. Stephen and Alan approached it with “Hellfire.”

Alan Menken: It was very clear, we’d thrown the gauntlet pretty far. It was also clear within our creative team that everybody was excited about going there.

Don Hahn: You use all the tools in your toolkit, and one of the most powerful ones was Alan and Stephen. Stephen can be dark, but he’s also very funny. He’s brilliant.

Gary Trousdale: The [MPAA] said, “When Frollo says ‘This burning desire is turning me to sin,’ we don’t like the word ‘sin.’” We can’t change the lyrics now. It’s all recorded. Kinda tough. “What if we just dip the volume of the word ‘sin’ and increase the sound effects?” They said, “Good.”

Stephen Schwartz: It’s one of the most admirable things [laughs] I have ever seen Disney Animation do. It was very supportive and adventurous, which is a spirit that…let’s just say, I don’t think [the company would] make this movie today.

Don Hahn: It’s funny. Violence is far more accepted than sex in a family movie. You can go see a Star Wars movie and the body count’s pretty huge, but there’s rarely any sexual innuendo.

Kathy Zielinski: I got to watch [Tony Jay] record “Hellfire” with another actor. I was sweating watching him record, because it was unbelievably intense. Afterwards, he asked me, “Did you learn anything from my performance?” I said, “Yeah, I never want to be a singer.” [laughing]

Paul Kandel: Tony Jay knocked that out of the park. He [was] an incredible guy. Very sweet. He was terrified to record “Hellfire.” He was at a couple of my sessions. He went, “Oh my God, what’s going to happen when it’s my turn? I don’t sing. I’m not a singer. I never pretended to be a singer.” I said, “Look, I’m not a singer. I’m an actor who figured out that they could hold a tune.”

Kathy Zielinski: I listened to Tony sing “Hellfire” tons. I knew I had gone too far when, one morning, we were sitting at the breakfast table and my daughter, who was two or three at the time, started singing the song and doing the mannerisms. [laughs]

Don Hahn: We didn’t literally want to show [Frollo’s lust]. It turns into a Fantasia sequence, almost. A lot of the imagery is something you could see coming out of Frollo’s imagination. It’s very impressionistic. It does stretch the boundaries of what had been done before at Disney.

Kirk Wise: We stylized it like “Night on Bald Mountain.” The best of Walt’s films balanced very dark and light elements. Instead of making it explicit, we tried to make it more visual and use symbolic imagery.

Gaëtan Brizzi: We were totally free. We could show symbolically how sick Frollo is between his hate and his carnal desire.

Kathy Zielinski: The storyboards had a tremendous influence. Everybody was incredibly admiring of the work that [Paul and Gaëtan] had done.

Don Hahn: They brought the storyboarded sequence to life in a way that is exactly what the movie looks like. The strength of it is that we didn’t have to show anything as much as we did suggest things to the audience. Give the audience credit for filling in the blanks.

Gary Trousdale: It was absolutely gorgeous. Their draftsmanship and their cinematography. They are the top. They pitched it with a cassette recording of Stephen singing “Hellfire”, and we were all in the story room watching it, going “Oh shit!”

Paul Brizzi: When Frollo is at the fireplace with Esmeralda’s scarf, his face is hypnotized. From the smoke, there’s the silhouette of Esmeralda coming to him. She’s naked in our drawings.

Gary Trousdale: We joked, maybe because they’re French, Esmeralda was in the nude when she was in the fire. Roy Disney put his foot down and said, “That’s not going to happen.” Chris Jenkins, the head of effects, and I went over every drawing to make sure she was appropriately attired. That was the one concession we made to the studio.

Gaëtan Brizzi: It’s the role of storyboard artists to go far, and then you scale it down. Her body was meant to be suggestive. It was more poetic than provocative.

Brenda Chapman: I thought what the Brizzis did with “Hellfire” was just stunning.

Roy Conli: We make films for people from four to 104, and we’re trying to ensure that the thematic material engages adults and engages children. We had a lot of conversations on “Hellfire,” [which] was groundbreaking. You saw the torment, but you didn’t necessarily, if you were a kid, read it as sexual. And if you were an adult, you picked it up pretty well.

Will Finn: “Hellfire” was uncomfortable to watch with a family audience. I’m not a prude, but what are small kids to make of such a scene?

Kathy Zielinski: When I was working on “Hellfire,” I thought, “Wow. They’re never going to do this kind of character again.” And I’m pretty much right.

“Straight for the Heart”

“Hellfire” may be the apex of the maturity of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, but the entire film is the most complex and adult Disney animated feature of the modern era.

Gary Trousdale: We went straight for the heart and then pulled back.

Kirk Wise: I was comfortable with moments of broad comedy contrasted with moments that were dark or scary or violent. All of the Disney movies did that, particularly in Walt’s time.

Don Hahn: A lot of it is gut level, where [the story group would] sit around and talk to ourselves and pitch it to executives. But Walt Disney’s original animated films were really dark. We wanted to create something that had the impact of what animation can do.

Will Finn: Eisner insisted we follow the book to the letter, but he said the villain could not be a priest, and we had to have a happy ending. The book is an epic tragedy – everybody dies!

Kathy Zielinski: It’s a little scary that I felt comfortable with [Frollo]. [laughing] I don’t know what that means. Maybe I need to go to therapy. I’ve always had a desire to do villains. I just love evil.

Don Hahn: Kathy Zielinski is brilliant. She works on The Simpsons now, which is hilarious. She’s very intense, very aware of what [Frollo] had to do.

One specific choice in the relationship between Frollo and Esmeralda caused problems.

Stephen Schwartz: I remember there was great controversy over Frollo sniffing Esmeralda’s hair.

Kirk Wise: The scene that caused the most consternation was in the cathedral where Frollo grabs Esmeralda, whispers in her ear and sniffs her hair. The sniffing made people ask, “Is this too far?” We got a lot of support from Peter Schneider, Tom Schumacher, and Michael Eisner.

Kathy Zielinski: Brenda Chapman came up with that idea and the storyboard. I animated it. It’s interesting, because two females were responsible for that. That scene was problematic, so they had to cut it down. It used to be a lot longer.

Brenda Chapman: I know I’m probably pushing it too far, but let’s give it a go, you know?

Kirk Wise: We agreed it was going to be a matter of execution and our collective gut would tell us whether we were crossing the line. We learned that the difference between a G and PG is the loudness of a sniff. Ultimately, that’s what it came down to.

Brenda Chapman: I never knew that! [laughing]

Don Hahn: Is it rated G? That’s surprising.

Gary Trousdale: I’m sure there was backroom bargaining done that Kirk and I didn’t know about.

Don Hahn: It’s negotiation. The same was true of The Lion King. We had intensity notes on the fight at the end. You either say, we’re going to live with that and it’s PG, or we’re not and it’s G.

Brenda Chapman: I heard stories of little kids going, “Ewww, he’s rubbing his boogers in her hair!” [laughing] If that’s what they want to think, that’s fine. But there are plenty of adults that went, “Whoa!”

Don Hahn: You make the movies for yourselves, [but] we all have families, and you try to make something that’s appropriate for that audience. So we made some changes. Frollo isn’t a member of the clergy to take out any politicizing.

Gaëtan Brizzi: We developed the idea of Frollo’s racism against the gypsies. To feel that he desires Esmeralda and he wants to kill her. It was ambiguity that was interesting to develop. In the storyboards, Paul made [Frollo] handsome with a big jaw, a guy with class. They said he was too handsome. We had to break that formula.

Stephen Schwartz: I [and others] said, “It doesn’t make any sense for him to not be the Archdeacon, because what’s he doing with Quasimodo? What possible relationship could they have?” Which is what led to the backstory that became “The Bells of Notre Dame.”

Don Hahn: The things Frollo represents are alive and well in the world. Bigotry and prejudice are human traits and always have been. One of his traits was lust. How do you portray that in a Disney movie? We tried to portray that in a way that might be over kids’ heads and may not give them nightmares necessarily, but it’s not going to pull its punches. So it was a fine line.

Stephen Schwartz: Hugo’s novel is not critical of the church the way a lot of French literature is. It creates this character of Frollo, who’s a deeply hypocritical person and tormented by his hypocrisy.

Peter Schneider: I am going to be controversial. I think it failed. The fundamental basis is problematic, if you’re going to try and do a Disney movie. In [light of] the #MeToo movement, you couldn’t still do the movie and try what we tried to do. As much as we tried to soften it, you couldn’t get away from the fundamental darkness.

Don Hahn: Yeah, that sounds like Peter. He’s always the contrarian.

Peter Schneider: I’m not sure we should have made the movie, in retrospect. I mean, it did well, Kirk and Gary did a beautiful job. The voices are beautiful. The songs are lovely, but I’m not sure we should have made the movie.

Gaëtan Brizzi: The hardest part was to stick to the commercial side of the movie…to make sure we were still addressing kids.

Kirk Wise: We knew it was going to be a challenge to honor the source material while delivering a movie that would fit comfortably on the shelf with the other Disney musicals. We embraced it.

Roy Conli: I don’t think it was too mature. I do find it at times slightly provocative, but not in a judgmental or negative way. I stand by the film 100 percent in sending a message of hope.

Peter Schneider: It never settled its tone. If you look at the gargoyles and bringing in Jason Alexander to try and give comedy to this rather bleak story of a judge keeping a deformed young man in the tower…there’s so many icky factors for a Disney movie.

Jason Alexander: Some children might be frightened by Quasi’s look or not be able to understand the complexity. But what we see is an honest, innocent and capable underdog confront his obstacles and naysayers and emerge triumphant, seen and accepted. I think young people rally to those stories. They can handle the fearsome and celebrate the good.

Brenda Chapman: There was a scene where Frollo was locking Quasimodo in the tower, and Quasi was quite upset. I had to pull back from how cruel Frollo was in that moment, if I’m remembering correctly. I wanted to make him a very human monster, which can be scarier than a real monster.

Roy Conli: We walked such a tight line and we were on the edge and the fact that Disney allowed us to be on the edge was a huge tribute to them.

“Hear the Voice”

The story was set, the songs were ready. All that was left was getting a cast together to bring the characters’ voices to life.

Jason Alexander: Disney, Alan Menken, Stephen Schwartz, Victor Hugo – you had me at hello.

Paul Kandel: I was in Tommy, on Broadway. I was also a Tony nominee. So I had those prerequisites. Then I got a call from my agent that Jeffrey Katzenberg decided he wanted a star. I was out of a job I already had. I said, “I want to go back in and audition again.” I wanted to let them choose between me and whoever had a name that would help sell the film. So that series of auditions went on and I got the job back.

Kirk Wise: Everybody auditioned, with the exception of Kevin Kline and Demi Moore. We went to them with an offer. But we had a few people come in for Quasimodo, including Meat Loaf.

Will Finn: Katzenberg saw Meat Loaf and Cher playing Quasimodo and Esmeralda – more of a rock opera. He also wanted Leno, Letterman, and Arsenio as the gargoyles at one point.

Kirk Wise: Meat Loaf sat with Alan and rehearsed the song. It was very different than what we ended up with, because Meat Loaf has a very distinct sound. Ultimately, I think his record company and Disney couldn’t play nice together, and the deal fell apart.

Gary Trousdale: We all had the drawings of the characters we were currently casting for in front of us. Instead of watching the actor, we’d be looking down at the piece of paper, trying to hear that voice come out of the drawing. And it was, we learned, a little disconcerting for some of the actors and actresses, who would put on hair and makeup and clothes and they’ve got their body language and expressions. We just want to hear the voice.

Kirk Wise: We cast Cyndi Lauper as one of the gargoyles. We thought she was hilarious and sweet. The little fat obnoxious gargoyle had a different name, and was going to be played by Sam McMurray. We had Cyndi and Sam record, and Roy Disney hated it. The quality of Cyndi’s voice and Sam’s voice were extremely grating to his ear. This is no disrespect to them – Cyndi Lauper is amazing. And Sam McMurray is very funny. But it was not working for the people in the room on that day.

Jason Alexander: The authors cast you for a reason – they think they’ve heard a voice in you that fits their character. I always try to look at the image of the character – his shape, his size, his energy and start to allow sounds, pitches, vocal tics to emerge. Then everyone kicks that around, nudging here, tweaking there and within a few minutes you have the approach to the vocalization. It’s not usually a long process, but it is fun.

Kirk Wise: We decided to reconceive the gargoyles. We always knew we wanted three of them. We wanted a Laurel and Hardy pair. The third gargoyle, the female gargoyle, was up in the air. I think it was Will Finn who said, “Why don’t we make her older?” As the wisdom-keeper. That led us to Mary Wickes, who was absolutely terrific. We thoroughly enjoyed working with Mary, and 98% of the dialogue is her. But she sadly passed away before we were finished.

Will Finn: We brought in a ton of voice-over actresses and none sounded like Mary. One night, I woke up thinking about Jane Withers, who had been a character actress in the golden age of Hollywood. She had a similar twang in her voice, and very luckily, she was alive and well.

Kirk Wise: Our first session with Kevin Kline went OK, but something was missing. It just didn’t feel like there was enough of a twinkle in his voice. Roy Conli said, “Guys, he’s an actor. Give him a prop.” For the next session, the supervising animator for Phoebus brought in a medieval broadsword. Before the session started, we said “Kevin, we’ve got a present for you.” We brought out this sword, and he lit up like a kid at Christmas. He would gesture with it and lean on it. Roy found the key there.

Gary Trousdale: Kevin Kline is naturally funny, so we may have [written] some funnier lines for him. When he’s sparring with Esmeralda in the cathedral and he gets hit by the goat. “I didn’t know you had a kid,” which is the worst line ever. But he pulls it off. He had good comic timing.

Kirk Wise: Tom Hulce had a terrific body of work, including Amadeus. But the performance that stuck with me was in Dominic and Eugene. There was a sensitivity and emotional reality to that performance that made us lean in and think he might make a good Quasimodo.

Gary Trousdale: [His voice] had a nice mix of youthful and adult. He had a maturity, but he had an innocence as well. We’re picturing Quasimodo as a guy who’s basically an innocent. It was a quality of his voice that we could hear.

Don Hahn: He’s one of those actors who could perform and act while he sang. Solo songs, especially for Quasimodo, are monologues set to music. So you’re looking for someone who can portray all the emotion of the scene. It’s about performance and storytelling, and creating a character while you’re singing. That’s why Tom rose to the top.

Stephen Schwartz: I thought Tom did great. I had known Tom a little bit beforehand, as an actor in New York. I’d seen him do Equus and I was sort of surprised. I just knew him as an actor in straight plays. I didn’t know that he sang at all, and then it turned out that he really sang.

Paul Kandel: [Tom] didn’t think of himself as a singer. He’s an actor who can sing. “Out There,” his big number – whether he’s going to admit it to you or not – that was scary for him. But a beautiful job.

Brenda Chapman: Quasimodo was the key to make it family-friendly. Tom Hulce did such a great job making him appealing.

Kirk Wise: Gary came back with the audiotape of Tom’s first session. And his first appearance with the little bird, where he asks if the bird is ready to fly…that whole scene was his rehearsal tape. His instincts were so good. He just nailed it. I think he was surprised that we went with that take. It was the least overworked and the most spontaneous, and felt emotionally real to us.

Kathy Zielinski: Early on, they wanted Anthony Hopkins to do the voice [of Frollo]. [We] did an animation test with a line of his from Silence of the Lambs.

Kirk Wise: We were thinking of Hannibal Lecter in the earliest iterations of Frollo. They made an offer, but Hopkins passed. We came full circle to Tony, because it had been such a good experience working with him on Beauty and the Beast. It was the combination of the quality of his voice, the familiarity of working with him, and knowing how professional and sharp he was.

Though the role of Quasimodo went to Tom Hulce (who did not respond to multiple requests for comment), there was one audition those involved haven’t forgotten.

Kirk Wise: We had a few people come in for Quasimodo, including Mandy Patinkin.

Stephen Schwartz: That was a difficult day. [laughing]

Kirk Wise: Mandy informed Alan and Stephen that he brought his own accompanist, which was unexpected because we had one in the room. He had taken a few liberties with [“Out There”]. He had done a little rearranging. You could see Alan’s and Stephen’s spines stiffen. It was not the feel that Alan and Stephen were going for. Stephen pretty much said so in the room. I think his words were a little sharper and more pointed than mine.

Stephen Schwartz: I’ve never worked with Mandy Patinkin. But I admired Evita and Sunday in the Park with George. He came in to audition for Quasimodo. When I came in, Ben Vereen was sitting in the hallway. Ben is a friend of mine and kind of a giant star. I felt we should be polite in terms of bringing him in relatively close to the time for which he was called.

Mandy took a long time with his audition, and asked to do it over and over again. If you’re Mandy Patinkin, you should have enough time scheduled to feel you were able to show what you wanted to show. However, that amount of time was not scheduled. At a certain point, I became a bit agitated because I knew Ben was sitting there, cooling his heels. I remember asking [to] move along or something. That created a huge contretemps.

Kirk Wise: Gary and I stepped outside to work on a dialogue scene with Mandy. As we were explaining the scene and our take on the character, Mandy threw up his hands and said, “Guys, I’m really sorry. I can’t do this.” He turned on his heel and went into the rehearsal hall and shut the door. We started hearing an intense argument. He basically went in and read Alan and Stephen the riot act. The door opens, smoke issuing from the crater that he left inside. Mandy storms out, and he’s gone. We step back in the room, asking, “What the hell happened?”

Gary Trousdale: I did a drawing of it afterwards. The Patinkin Incident.

Stephen Schwartz: Battleship Patinkin!

“Join the Party”

The darkness in the film made it difficult to market. Even some involved acknowledged the issue. In the run-up to release, Jason Alexander said to Entertainment Weekly, “Disney would have us believe this movie’s like the Ringling Bros., for children of all ages. But I won’t be taking my 4-year old. I wouldn’t expose him to it, not for another year.”

Alan Menken: There was all the outrage about Jason Alexander referring to it as a dark story that’s not for kids. Probably Disney wasn’t happy he said that.

Jason Alexander: Most Disney animated films are entertaining and engaging for any child with an attention span. All of them have elements that are frightening. But people are abused in Hunchback. These are people, not cute animals. Some children could be overwhelmed by some of it at a very young age. My son at the time could not tolerate any sense of dread in movies so it would have been hard for him. However, that is certainly not all children.

Don Hahn: I don’t think Jason was wrong. People have to decide for themselves. It probably wasn’t a movie for four-year olds. You as a parent know your kid better than I do.

If everyone agrees the score is excellent, they also agree on something that was not.

Alan Menken: God knows we couldn’t control how Disney marketing dealt with the movie, which was a parade with Quasimodo on everybody’s shoulders going, “Join the party.” [laughing]

Roy Conli: I always thought “Animation comes of age” would be a great [tagline]. I think the marketing ended up, “Join the party.”

Brenda Chapman: Marketing had it as this big party. And then you get into the story and there’s all this darkness. I think audiences were not expecting that, if they didn’t know the original story.

Kathy Zielinski: It was a hard movie for Disney to merchandise and sell to the public.

Gaëtan Brizzi: People must have been totally surprised by the dramatic sequences. The advertising was not reflecting what the movie was about.

Stephen Schwartz: To this day, they just don’t know how to market “Disney’s Hunchback of Notre Dame.” I understand what their quandary is. They have developed a brand that says, “If you see the word Disney on something, it means you can take your 6-year old.” You probably shouldn’t even take your 8-year old, unless he or she is very mature, to Hunchback.

Alan Menken: We [Disney] had such a run of successful projects. It was inevitable there was going to be a time where people said, “I’ve seen all those, but what else is out there?” I had that experience sitting at a diner with my family, overhearing a family talk about Hunchback and say, “Oh yeah, we saw Beauty and Aladdin, but this one…let’s see something else.”

Stephen Schwartz: I did have a sense that some in the critical community didn’t know how to reconcile animation and an adult approach. They have the same attitude some critics have about musicals. “It’s fine if it’s tap-dancing and about silly subjects. But if it’s something that has intellectual import, you can’t do that.” Obviously we have Hamilton and Sweeney Todd and Wicked. Over the years, that’s changed to some extent, but not for everybody.

Roy Conli: Every film is not a Lion King. [But] if that story has legs and will touch people, then you’ve succeeded.

Kirk Wise: We were a little disappointed in its initial weekend. It didn’t do as well as we hoped. We were also disappointed in the critical reaction. It was well-reviewed, but more mixed. Roger Ebert loved us. The New York Times hated us! I felt whipsawed. It was the same critic [Janet Maslin] who praised Beauty and the Beast to the high heavens. She utterly shat on Hunchback.

Don Hahn: We had really good previews, but we also knew it was out of the box creatively. We were also worried about the French and we were worried about the handicapped community and those were the two communities that supported the movie the most.

Will Finn: I knew we were in trouble when the first trailers played and audiences laughed at Quasimodo singing “Out There” on the roof.

Kirk Wise: All of us were proud of the movie on an artistic level. In terms of animation and backgrounds and music and the use of the camera and the performances. It’s the entire studio operating at its peak level of performance, as far as I’m concerned.

Gary Trousdale: I didn’t think people were going to have such a negative reaction to the gargoyles. They’re a little silly. And they do undercut the gravity. But speaking with friends who were kids at the time, they have nothing but fond memories. There were adults, high school age and older when they saw it, they were turned off. We thought it was going to do really great. We thought, “We’re topping ourselves.” It’s a sophisticated story and the music is amazing.

Kirk Wise: The 2D animated movies used to be released before Christmas [or] Thanksgiving. The Lion King changed that. Now everything was a summer release. I always questioned the wisdom of releasing Hunchback in the summertime, in competition with other blockbusters.

Paul Kandel: It made $300 million and it cost $80 million to make. So they were not hurting as far as profits were concerned. But I thought it was groundbreaking in so many ways that I was surprised at the mixed reviews.

Kirk Wise: By most measures, it was a hit. I think The Lion King spoiled everybody, because [it] was such a phenomenon, a bolt from the blue, not-to-be-repeated kind of event.

Gary Trousdale: We were getting mixed reviews. Some of them were really good. “This is a stunning masterpiece.” And other people were saying, “This is a travesty.” And the box office was coming in, not as well as hoped.

Don Hahn: I was in Argentina doing South American press. I got a call from Peter Schneider, who said, “It’s performing OK, but it’s probably going to hit 100 million.” Which, for any other moviemaker, would be a goldmine. But we’d been used to huge successes. I was disappointed.

Peter Schneider: I think it was a hit, right? It just wasn’t the same. As they say in the theater, you don’t set out to make a failure.

Don Hahn: If you’re the New York Yankees, and you’ve had a winning season where you could not lose, and then people hit standup singles instead of home runs…that’s OK. But it has this aura of disappointment. That’s the feeling that’s awful to have, because it’s selfish. Animation is an art, and the arts are meant to be without a price tag hanging off of them all the time.

Paul Brizzi: We are still grateful to Kirk and Gary and Don. We worked on [Hunchback] for maybe a year or a year and a half. Every sequence, we did with passion.

Gaëtan Brizzi: Our work on Hunchback was a triumph of our career.

Kathy Zielinski: There are certainly a whole crowd of people who wish we had not [done] the comedy, because that wasn’t faithful. That’s the main complaint I heard – we should’ve gone for this total dramatic piece and not worried about the kiddies.

Gaetan Brizzi: The only concern we had was the lack of homogeneity. The drama was really strong, and the [comedy] was sometimes a little bit goofy. It was a paradox. When you go from “Hellfire” to a big joke, the transition was not working well. Otherwise, we were very proud.

James Baxter: We were happy with what we did, but we understood it was going to be a slightly harder sell. The Hunchback of Notre Dame usually doesn’t engender connotations like, “Oh, that’s going to be a Disney classic.” I was very happy that it did as well as it did.

Jason Alexander: I thought it was even more mature and emotional on screen. It was an exciting maturation of what a Disney animated feature could be. I was impressed and touched.

“An Undersung Hero”

25 years later, The Hunchback of Notre Dame endures. The animated film inspired an even darker stage show that played both domestically and overseas, and in recent years, there have been rumors that Josh Gad would star as Quasimodo in a live-action remake.

Alan Menken: I think it’s a project that with every passing year will more and more become recognized as a really important part of my career.

Stephen Schwartz: This will be immodest, but I think it’s a really fine adaptation. I think it’s the best musical adaptation of the Victor Hugo novel, and there have been a lot. I think the music is just unbelievably good. I think, as a lyricist, I was working at pretty much the top of my form. I have so many people telling me it’s their favorite Disney film.

Alan Menken: During the pandemic, there was this hundred-piece choir doing “The Bells of Notre Dame.” People are picking up on it. It’s the combination of the storytelling and how well the score is constructed that gets it to longevity. If something is good enough, it gets found.

Paul Kandel: I think people were more sensitive. There was an expectation that a new Disney animated film would not push boundaries at all, which it did. For critics, it pushed a little too hard and I don’t think they would think that now. It’s a work of art.

Gaëtan Brizzi: Hunchback is poetic, because of its dark romanticism. We have tons of animated movies, but I think they all look alike because of the computer technique. This movie is very important in making people understand that hate has no place in our society, between a culture or people or a country. That’s the message of the movie, and of Victor Hugo himself.

Jason Alexander: I think it’s an undersung hero. It’s one of the most beautiful and moving animated films. But it is not the title that lives on everyone’s tongue. I think more people haven’t seen this one than any of the others. I adore it.

Peter Schneider: What Disney did around this period [is] we stopped making musicals. I think that was probably a mistake on some level, but the animators were bored with it.

Don Hahn: You know people reacted to Beauty and the Beast or The Lion King. They were successful movies in their day. You don’t know the reaction to anything else. So when [I] go to Comic-Con or do press on other movies, people started talking about Hunchback. “My favorite Alan Menken score is Hunchback.” It’s always surprising and delightful.

Kirk Wise: I’ve had so many people come up to me and say, “This is my absolute favorite movie. I adored this movie as a kid. I wore out my VHS.” That makes all the difference in the world.

Paul Kandel: Sitting on my desk right now are four long letters and requests for autographs. I get 20 of those a week. People are still seeing that film and being moved by it.

Alan Menken: Now there’s a discussion about a live-action film with Hunchback. And that’s [sighs] exciting and problematic. We have to, once again, wade into the troubled waters of “What is Disney’s movie version of Hunchback?” Especially now.

Jason Alexander: Live action could work because the vast majority of characters are human. The story of an actual human who is in some ways less abled and who is defined by how he looks, rather than his heart and character, is timely and important, to say the least.

Kirk Wise: I imagine if there were a live-action adaptation, it would skew more towards the stage version. That’s just my guess.

Stephen Schwartz: I think it would lend itself extremely well to a live-action movie, particularly if they use the stage show as the basis. I think the stage show is fantastic.

Kirk Wise: It’s gratifying to be involved in movies like Beauty and the Beast and Hunchback that have created so much affection. But animation is as legitimate a form of storytelling as live-action is. It might be different, but I don’t think it’s better. I feel like [saying], “Just put on the old one. It’s still good!”

Gary Trousdale: There were enough versions before. Somebody wants to make another version? Okay. Most people can tell the difference between the animated version and a live-action reboot. Mostly I’m not a fan of those. But if that’s what Disney wants to do, great.

Don Hahn: It’s very visual. It’s got huge potential because of its setting and the drama, and the music. It’s pretty powerful, so it makes sense to remake that movie. I think we will someday.

Brenda Chapman: It’s a history lesson. Now that Notre Dame is in such dire straits, after having burned so badly, hopefully [this] will increase interest in all that history.

James Baxter: It meant two children. I met my wife on that movie. [laughs] In a wider sense, the legacy is another step of broadening the scope of what Disney feature animation could be.

Kirk Wise: Hunchback is the movie where the final product turned out closest to the original vision. There was such terrific passion by the crew that carried throughout the process.

Roy Conli: It’s one of the most beautiful films we’ve made. 25 years later, I’d say “Join the party.” [laughs]

#long post behind read more #the hunchback of notre dame #hunchback of notre dame #notre dame de paris #victor hugo #interviews #disney #alan menken #stephen schwartz #quasimodo #esmeralda #frollo #phoebus #movies #movie history

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franki-lew-yo · 3 years

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I really hate 2d purists. No, not 2d animation. Not 2d animators.

2d purists.

The sad thing is it’s gotten to the point that I really cringe hearing any pro-2D sentiment at all. I hate the arguments I agree with because how often they're misused and weaponized by idiots.

Let me make my stance here clear - 2d is NOT appreciated and 3d is used for everything! The layman Karen-mom who doesn’t have an artistic bone in her body looks at stupidsmooth 3D Grubhub ads and assumes quality cause it “looks more real” (aka ‘rendered’). I know as much is true because I literally have a member of my family who told my sister and I that she thinks 3d is better (and also that she “tolerated THOSE movies for us kids”. Touching words. My sister was taking an animation course by the way). Combined that with the studios either using 2D for cheap stuff or finding good 2d animation too “costly”, I get it and I’m not even any animator. I'm just a worm an illustrator.

but holy HELL -

There’s a backlash from the artistic community that's it's own kind of insufferable and deserve to be addressed.

“(insert2Danimatedfilm) is better BECAUSE it's 2D!”

followed by: "Animation is a visual medium and the quality of the art affects how much the story means !!!!”

Yes. Totally. Animation is a visual medium and the look and style is important. Sadly, people use this excuse to really obnoxious ends, insisting that design being pretty is '' everything ''. When you treat a movie more as a special effects demo I get why you talk about the artistry at hand; but I’m sorry, visuals are not the only thing important and it’s why I’m also getting sick of the sameElsafacesyndrome rants too! There’s this attitude that's reads as "but it LOOKS better fromaproductionimage/teasertrailerwhichapparentlyisindicativeof all themovieactuallyis so it MUST BE better".

-“3D should only be used to make things look realistic!”

I think I know the logic this criticism is made in response to, and that’s the Sony + Illumination films which look just as good in 2D as they do in three dimensions. I know it feels like people are twisting this medium to try and make it like a classic cartoon when by all means people can and would love a classic cartoon being a classic cartoon. That I get- From the unsung 2D animator’s perspective, that’s more than valid !

But it’s a huuuuuuge slap in the face to 3d in saying it should only be used for "realistic animation" because

1: It’s not like realistic animation could age badly or look uncanny in the next few years. It's almost like technology is constantly improving, which I guess 2d animation never did and it was always the same technique and quality as every film that came after it.

2: The industry does treat 3d as a magic-moneymaker for this reason. Just listen to these people call the 2019 LION KING “live action” as if they’re embarrassed to call it animation. It IS animation! It would be impressive if you acknowledged that what it is, but like the CATS, you basically are treating it as just a neato tool to better your live action and not it's own artform - which it is!

3: By this “three-deeonly gud when real liek in da toystories” non-logic I guess 2d should ONLY be for flowyflowy SPACE JAM cartoons and maybe some Disney*. Just that though. You can’t do anything more with 2d. It’s never supposed to be realistic I guess. Good thing Richard Williams only did 'toons' and just toons that’s why we need 3d in the world I guess.

Wait no - that’s stupid.

"I HAVE to see the “Land Before Time 14″ when it comes out! I mean it’s a 2D animated film!"

Lost in the aether that is Youtube comment chains removed from kid's videos is a stream of this very VERY stupid argument supporting the buying of the 14th LAND BEFORE TIME film because it’s supporting 2D. My sister and I can be found on that chain arguing against this stupidity. All you have is my word, but trust me: it really did happen.

I’m sorry but...no.

Unless you have a friend or a family member who worked on these movies there’s no reason to see this and ESPECIALLY no reason to insist it’s a win for the 2D community if you buy up this crap - and I'm not judging if you do like it, but come on! LAND BEFORE TIME 14 isn't where your money should go if you really like this medium.

What’s so infuriating about this argument is you can tell it’s made by nonanimators. Real animators will tell you to support their movies cause they want some respect for their artform which is why there’s such a push from the PRINCESS AND THE FROGcrowd that you SEE and LOVE every 2d thing out there, regardless of how good it is because any recognition for it is k i n d o f what they're after!

Kiddy sequel schlock isn’t even in the same ballpark as KLAUS or WOLFWALKERS; these films DID have very limited theatrical runs (Klaus so it could be nominated; Wolfwalkers in places where theaters opened up after Covid) and should have been supported because they were labors of love made by people who love animation.

As other people have already pointed out, one of the reasons for the lack of interest in 2000sera2D animation is that the only films released alongside critical+financial 3D hits were cheaper 2D films that either coincided with daytime tv shows or should have been just direct-to-video. It’s not to say art couldn’t come out of these flicks, but dayum if it wasn’t abused as much as the texture software that era's CG used... Point being, should the world ever go back to normal: If you hear about an out-of-town showing an acclaimed 2D animated film, make time to trek out and see THAT!

Don’t give your money to see yet another made-for-tv movie on the big screen because all that tells the studio is: “yeah 2d IS cheap and only good for cheap stuff let’s just keep it cheap. Only 3d is important 8D 8D 8D !!!"

“I don’t understand how it works. So it sucks.”

This text is from an ANIMATOR btw.

“I don’t understand how it works” and “it’s just some computer rendering” is the exact same wave of logic the people who prefer cgi use.

The plebian Karen I mentioned earlier? She understands the basics of 2D animation as much as you did from one of those cruddy flash classes you took in middle-school. She 'understands' the basics cuz she watched how it was made on the DVD features or maybe back on the WONDERFUL WORLD OF DISNEY. To her, the illusion is broken and she’s not impressed by 'just some drawings on paper'. You, an animator, know the process is more complicated and is intrigued by knowing how it’s made - not bored or disinterested -

Neither you nor Aunt Karen have really good cg-animation software at your house and unless you ARE a 3D animator you probably DON’T know all the ins-and-outs of how these movies are modeled, rendered, and animated.

Aunt Karen is bedazzled by them cause she doesn’t know how it works and the technical aspect makes her brain hurt so it might as well be magic and she can feel like a cool kid sharing Minion-memes. Aunt Karen is the nonartistic type who just wants to feel safe. You're not. You want to feel challenged.

I get it: you’re pissed off cause you’re in a field no one, including Aunt Karen, appreciates; told to work in cg which it's an artform you didn’t devote your life to and told to learn it cause THIS style sells! 3D is everywhere and is starting to look like 'garbage' even if you don’t animate 3D models yourself you just KNOW, I guess. Besides, you know all there is to know about 2d!! You know all there is to possibly know about this artform and have to fight this 'war' against "r e a l" animation! And I mean even when 3d software is there to use, it's not like you can actually make anything worth while in it, especially not anything that transcends the medium. Right Worthikids?

TL;DR: This argument is basically just " BWAAAAH I’M NOT GONNA USE IT I HAVE STANDARDS (a chip on my shoulder cuz art should be what I deem it to be) "

“PRINCESS AND THE FROG is-”

There’s a reason I can’t say I truly like PRINCESS AND THE FROG even though it's not even a bad movie! Like, stop reading this and watch PATF if you haven't it's good. It's my 'FROZEN', in that; I see a lot of potential in it I just think it needs some serious rewriting and that bugs me. Always have felt that way, tbh.

I dislike this movie because the response from the animation community seems to be it was perfect and the Academy was just Pixar-crazy with UP ((ftr, the Academy IS Pixar’s bitch and I personally advocate a sequel be made to WAKING SLEEPING BEAUTY about Mike Eisner’s sabotage of the 2D department at Disney which is still in place now!- but that’s a story for another day)). I’m sorry but UP was just a better story. So was CORALINE. So was FANTASTIC MR. FOX. Honest to god it feels like poor PATF is brought up as just a talking point and never for it's own worth as a labor of love - which it was! I'd like to honestly know: had PRINCESS AND THE FROG come out now and been cg if it would have even half the defenders for it because now it doesn't "look" like how a Disney movie "should" look...

If you like PatF more than the currant Disney lineup because of it's culture, it's music, it's feminism, it's black representation? Awesome. Great. Those things should be appreciated and I never want that taken away from you. But if you seriously think PatF is better just for how it was animated and looks - I lowkey may hate you.

“ALL OF DISNEY’S LATEST MOVIES SHOULD HAVE BEEN 2D! THEY ALL LOOK AWFUL IN 3D!! ALL OF THEM!”

TANGLED, FROZEN, and MOANA? Yeah. Sure. But um, e x c u s e y o u- WRECK IT RALPH sooooo doesn’t work in 2d! It could have used different between the various worlds but it’s about hopping through different video games. I’m also of the opinion that ZOOTOPIA and BIG HERO 6 are fine the way they are. Their 3d is awesome.

The latest fairy tale Disney films are really big on their place alongside the 2D canon esp in marketing. They keep trying to mimic 2D to varying results though I don't think it works as well as the movie's I'd previously mentioned. Me personally, I would love a mix of 3D and 2D technology, like if the backgrounds in FROZEN still got to be 3D but the characters were handdrawn and shaded ala KLAUS ((sweet sigh)). But even then are they truly unwatchable just based on how they're animated to you?

MOANA would have been incredible in 2D but for the record - I don't think it feels out of place in it's style. It reminds me more of a Pixar movie with the heart of a Disney classic which is it's own just as good.

“2D is the oldest form of animation and it’s being replaced.”

Actually, if we’re talking animation in film, stop motion is the earliest form of animation. The stop motion animated THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE ACHMED and TALE OF THE FOX predate Disney’s SNOW WHITE. And yes: stop-motion IS still a form of animation even if it’s a serious of pictures taken of real life things and not drawings, so don’t you dare come at me with the "but that's not animated"/"Technically it’s LIVE ACTION" crap or I’ll envoke the spirit of Sandman to get you at night.

“Every animated film would look better in 2D! Even PIXAR would look better in 2D!”

Again, Stop Motion.

No, I mean it.

Lemme ask: Would ISLE OF DOGS or FANTASTIC MR. FOX carry any of the same effect if they were generic 90s toons? I know NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS wouldn’t. Christ, don’t even get me started on Svankmajer!

Sometimes the problem is that a movie is envisioned with a specific artform in mind. Pixar started out with toys and bugs for a reason and that’s cuz they were always gonna be a 3d studio and they needed to first overcome the placisity of the models. Over the years they’ve gotten really good at effects and blending unrealistic proportions with real textures (and also not so much- ONWARD and THE GOOD DINOSAUR really needed some different character designs and yeah, I do think would have looked better with a 2d artstyle, but not the ones they had in their films. THE GOOD DINOSAUR needed more realistic-speculative looking dinos and ONWARD needed a grittier HEAVY METAL/BLACK CAULDRON appeal to its designs.) My point being that the problems with these movies aren’t even inherently the animation as much as it is a problem of style. As someone who runs a group speculating different styles and designs for movies and tv shows I’m all for envisioning a 2D ZOOTOPIA or Bluth-inspired FNAF. That’s amazing!

But that’s also the talk of fan artists and nerds and not the professional artists working on visualizing their stories!!

Since I ate, slept, and breathed NIGHTMARE in my youth I’ll use it as an example: All the concept art ever done for TNBC was on paper and 2D was used in the final film. However, even when Tim Burton was thinking of making it just a tv special it was always going to be stop-motion. NIGHTMARE’s puppet cast do work very well in two dimensions, believe me, but the film was made as a love letter to Rankin/Bass and the art form of stop-motion. Skipping to another Henry Selick-helmed project (haha), JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH was also always envisioned as a multimedia film to give it a truly dream-like atmosphere. If you know anything about Henry Selick you’ll know he’s 1) a perfectionist, and 2) loves mixed media and different types of animation and puppetry at once. That’s why he was the perfect pick to direct TNBC at the time, why JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH and CORALINE are so beautiful and why MOONGIRL, his only fully 3d film, doesn’t have the same appeal.

As for what films I couldn’t imagine NOT being 3D? Probably; 9, Padak, Next Gen, Soul, Finding Nemo, the Toy Story films, Wreck-it-Ralph (as previously mentioned), Wall.E, Waltz with Bashir, Robots, Inside Out, Arthur Christmas, The Painting, Happy Feet, Shrek, Enter the Spiderverse, Megamind… just naming a few here.

“I want a traditionally animated film [and by that I mean a 90s-Disney/Don Bluth looking movie] of ‘x'-popular live action/stage thing!”

Okay I’m cheating a bit but it’s my blog and so I’m gonna stick this one in because it’s related.

When I see musings about wanting live-action or CGI shiz to be in 2d again a lot of the time this argument actually boils down to " I want this to look like a 90s Didney movie ". Or, if it’s about animals - " I want it to look like a Don Bluth film! "

Like...there ARE other styles of animation out there...you know that right?

Frack, Disney themselves tried different styles throughout the 90s it’s just that the peak of the Disney renaissance films (LITTLE MERMAID, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, ALADDIN, THE LION KING) and the many imitators that followed tended to have the same look to them where only film/animation nerds kept watching into the era that was TARZAN, HERCULES, and ATLANTIS along with the kids. Aunt Karen wasn't singing Part of your World in the carride with you every day.

The Don Bluth argument is especially irritating because...what exact feeling do you WANT from a movie if it looked Bluthish? Each of the four ‘quintessential’ Bluth movies (NIMH, AMERICAN TAIL, LBT, and ALL DOGS) have such a different feel to them that’s complimented by that style; SECRET OF NIMH is a drama about wild animals trying to understand humans; LAND BEFORE TIME is even more squarely about an animal’s perspective as there’s literally no humans around; AMERICAN TAIL uses animals stowing away on the ship to tell a story about refugees; and ALL DOGS GO TO HEAVEN is ALL DOGS GO TO HEAVEN.

What the frack are you even asking for with that because I think there’s a certain flavor to the Bluth-styled oeuvre as well as the 90s Disney catalogue that would clash too much stylistically with some films.

Also come on! Like some Bluthian-style 2d would really fix THE SECRET LIFE OF PETS or SCOOB!, bite me.

I think this fixation solely on these two hand drawn styles and nothing else is based on nostalgia goggles, refusing to step outside the norm and discover different films and feelings than Disney and Bluth, and just preference. Goin back to NIGHTMARE there will always be a special place in my heart for Henry Selick’s stop motion, but I couldn’t imagine CHICKEN RUN or ANOMALISA in it's unique style.

Also I’m tired of every time there’s a "lets make an animatic to ‘x’ musical theater song" it’s reliably just Disneyesque or realistic. WHY envision an animated version of the show at all if it doesn’t have A STYLE to it??!?! I’m sorry but 90s-Disney does NOT fit CABARET!

“3D is so CHEAP now! Why can’t they just do 2D again?”

I think - on the cusp of the 2020s and the Grubhub hatedom, there ARE changing times ahead for 3d and 2d. The general public are starting to get tired of the same looking 3d films and wanting some 2d back, but they don’t have the best resources or opinions on animation to know what it is they want. Meanwhile, the animation community + industry is trying to figure out what to do and you have a lot of turmoil between the monopoly that is the industry, the high standards of the artists, and the mixed wants of the animation fanbase deciding what art needs to be.

It’s a tough business. And in the spirit of that tough business - maybe DON’T act like the means of a film’s production is solely your control, that you know best, and know definitively what the artists should have done....cuz you don't. Sorry my fellow criticalfanomanalysist-folks we DON'T and in an age of standom where fans and critics think it's okay to hackle indie animation studios about not getting their pitched cartoon out fast enough - we need to reserve these discussions to our circles and not treat them as gospel.

3d animation and 2d animation have to share this world. Stop acting like they’re either interchangeable in terms of budget, means of production, or artistry or that one has to be superior to the other.

The industry already says one art form is better (spoiler: it’s always live-action), we don’t need anymore of this purist garbage. Just stick to what you like while trying new things on the side. Be critical while also being compassionate. And remember:

youtube

#animation #animation on tumblr #2d animation #3d animation #traditional animation #hand drawn animation #Franki's Features

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twistedtummies2 · 6 months

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You…don’t know what it’s like to drown away,

In a puddle of shame.

And You…yes, You…

Made me INSANE!

But not anymore!

I’m in control!

I have the stage,

You can’t turn the page!

Now, do as you’re told!

(Encore! Hit the Beat, Boys!)

Focus on me!

I’ll be all that they see!

I’ll make ‘em sway!

No, can’t run away!

Now, All Eyes on Me!

All Eyes On, ALL EYES ON ME!

“All Eyes on Me,” Caleb Hyles (Cover)

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Unlike the other characters in this series, Eli’s inspiration doesn’t really have any songs to speak of. If you know what the lyrics/song above reference, then you’ll probably know a big part of why I chose it to represent Elias Inque and the Phantom Blot for my “OCs & Inspirations” series. This image of the bunch was made by @foalette.

Although he’s the third major OC I introduced, I actually had ideas of creating the character who would become Elias very early on, when I realized the whole concept of “Overblot” in Twisted Wonderland was a reference to one of my favorite unsung villains in Disney: the Phantom Blot. The Blot is a character who is typically only known to the most ardent Disney aficionados. This is mostly because his “mainstream” appearances are rather small: the character got started in Disney comics, and that’s where most of his best appearances are known. Over the years - much like another famous Mickey Mouse enemy, Pete - the Blot has been reimagined and reworked for various interpretations; he’s been a Vampire, a Dark Wizard, a Magic Thief, the list goes on.

When I decided to create an actual Phantom Blot character, I decided to use that sense of history to my advantage, by suggesting there had been MANY Phantom Blots over the centuries in the universe of Twisted Wonderland. (Ever since the revelation of actual “Blot Phantoms” in-canon universe, I now headcanon they must have gotten their name in homage to this legendary figure.) Elias is the official new Phantom Blot, who has taken on the mantle himself. I decided to mix elements of both the Classic version of the character - a shadowy and yet totally over-the-top masked supervillain, pictured here - with arguably the most famous incarnation of the character, the one found in the game “Epic Mickey,” where he’s depicted as a near-demonic ink monster who wishes to consume and destroy everything in his path. Elias’ theatricality, pride, and his identity as a dog demi (the Classic Blot is an anthropomorphic canine beneath his mask) all came from the former, while his inky powers and gluttonous/predatory appetite were in homage to the latter.

I haven’t had a chance to use Elias a whole lot, but I do really love my melodramatic dog boy. Along with elements from different takes of the Blot that have appeared over the years, I also injected a lot of myself, and of some people I know personally, into the character: Elias is sort of the ultimate “theatre kid,” in a lot of ways, and so it’s fun to play him because I can understand what makes him tick a little better than some of my other guys just right off the bat.

Foalette did an AWESOME job. This is honestly even better than I expected it would be. I love the little hidden Easter Eggs in the background, and how the Blot is drawn almost like Elias’ shadow, and is made to look more threatening. Ironically, Eli himself was the thing that changed the least throughout the process…and for good reason. You can hardly improve on perfection. ;)

#disney #twisted wonderland #oc art #not my art #i'm not an artist #kink-related #but only peripherally #vore mentioned #oc #eli #elias #elias inque #phantom blot #mickey mouse #foalette #ocs & inspirations

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nitrateglow · 3 years

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Thoughts on some silent films

Isn't Life Wonderful (dir. DW Griffith, 1924)

DW Griffith in the 1920s often reminds me of Hitchcock in the 1960s: he starts off with a few hits (Way Down East and Orphans of the Storm) only to hit a big slump once the decade gets rolling. Anachronistic and tired are the two descriptors glued to Griffith's post-Orphans oeuvre-- with the exception of one movie: Isn't Life Wonderful.

Isn't Life Wonderful is not a melodrama, war epic, or morality play. Set in postwar Germany, it follows a family of Polish immigrants as they battle poverty, starvation, and the desperation of their neighbors. It often doesn't feel like a Griffith movie at all, at least not when you look at the story beats, which are low on melodramatic sensationalism and tend to focus more on the tenderness between the family members and their attempts to stay positive in a hostile environment.

An even bigger surprise is just how good Carol Dempster is.

If you don't know about Carol Dempster, she's among the most infamous silent film figures, a fact I have always found unfair. Her legacy is connected intimately with DW Griffith's-- the man was besotted with her and inserted her into several of his late period movies, whether she fit the parts given her or not. Often, she did not. It was clear Griffith wanted her to be some miracle combination of Lillian Gish and Mae Marsh, but Dempster lacked the ethereal grace of either, often making her seem more like a second-rate version of other actresses rather than allowing her to come into her own. Isn't Life Wonderful casts Dempster as an ordinary, optimistic, and hardworking young woman with next to no cloying mannerisms or any of the weird squirrel-chasing fluttery nonsense that Griffith saddled his leading ladies with. The result is perhaps her most organic performance and while I would never call Dempster one of the unsung greats, her legacy might not be so dour if Griffith hadn't sought to mold her into some Gish/Marsh hybrid.

I had to settle for a rather blurry print unfortunately, but even with that handicap, the visuals in this movie are gorgeous. It's absolutely an underrated movie, one I would urge fellow silent movie fans to check out.

Zaza (dir. Allan Dwan, 1923)

Sunset Blvd. must have been a blessing and a curse for Gloria Swanson. Her showstopping performance as the tragic narcissist Norma Desmond surely sealed her cinematic immortality, but it also eclipsed her actual days as a top-tier movie star in the 1920s. Most classic movie fans know Sunset Blvd by heart but likely could not name a single bonafide Swanson picture from her heyday.

It's a shame because she made quite a few fantastic movies. I would hesitate to call any of them masterpieces (though Sadie Thompson qualifies), but they are often well-crafted entertainment and that's the most Hollywood ever wants to be. Zaza was allegedly a joy of a movie to make and I'm glad to say it's a joy to watch too.

The story is a comedy/drama hyrbid: the first half follows Zaza's rivalry with a fellow performer and her attempts to secure the love of a diplomat (played by HB Warner-- who also appeared in Sunset Blvd as one of the "waxworks"!), while the second half has Zaza reacting to the reveal that her diplomat lover is a married man. The first part is marked by Zaza's rambunctious personality while the second sees her growth into a more mature person. The story construction isn't entirely smooth, but Swanson's delightful performance and the use of the love song "Plasir d'Amour" center what could have otherwise been a haphazard narrative.

Special mention must go to Lucille La Verne as Zaza's alcoholic aunt. She is HILARIOUS with her obnoxious ways and ever-present pet parrot. Movie geeks might not know her name but you've definitely experienced her work: she voiced the Evil Queen and her witch alter-ego in Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

#silent film #isn't life wonderful #zaza #thoughts

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elizabeth-against-the-universe · 4 years

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My ‘Candace Against the Universe’ Thoughts (Obviously Spoilers!)

Here is my ‘running commentary’ from my second watch through of CATU. I wrote it down in a notebook while I was watching (back on release day!) but only just got a chance to type it up!

Obviously spoilers after the break

Such a Beautiful Day is SUCH a great start to the movie. It’s catchy, a really lovely song, and is the perfect example of a classic Phineas and Ferb song; great melody, and some kinda weird lyrics.

I noticed that the kids’ bikes were all strewn about on the drive as Candace runs in through the gate, super cute!

Phineas ran into the house to get started on Candace’s gift, while Ferb walked. Such an energetic boy.

I love that Vanessa made a U-turn instead of just reversing or stopping further up. It’s like she needed to check that it was actually Candace sitting on the steps.

ALSO what day does the majority of the movie take place? Is it the day after the giant juggling clown? Because if not, that’s a longgg day

Already lots of Ferb lines only a short way into the movie! I know David Errigo Jr. had a couple of lines in the MML crossover, but he’s really getting a good Official PnF debut!

Everyone has Smartphones! Instead of the flip phones everyone had in the series! That’s what we call progress!

The canoe is ridiculous from the get-go! I love it.

Even Perry’s watch has been upgraded!

Poor DE Inc is always getting damaged. Doof’s insurance must be through the roof (if he still had a roof)

I love the Alexa/Google Home jokes!

The whole smoothie scene is ridiculous, I love it a lot

You can hear Isabella arguing with Doof in the background about ‘starboard’, but Doof makes a good point, just say left or right!

The ‘Unsung Hero’ scene was really good, but it was hard to hear that actual song with all of the action noises going on. But the visuals were great to watch!

The Welcome Song was ridiculously funny.

FLOSSING!

The song ends so abruptly, which is weird. Very PnF, but weird. And the door scene was funny but went on a few seconds too long.

The meaning of ‘Candace’ is so dumb, I love it. You can tell it was a joke made in the writers’ room and they were just like ‘we need to include this’

Candace, honey, you’re actually super special, don’t put yourself down!

Who else called it early on that Candace wasn’t actually ‘The Chosen One’, and that other humans would have the Remarkalonium as well? Because I called it straight away.

The Space Adventure jokes fell a bit flat for me – Baljeet is too smart for the running joke to make any sense.

Every Isabella and Doof interaction is GOLD!

Why was there no payoff for the building noise joke (how Buford couldn’t hear the noise)?

The first time I watched, I didn’t notice that the funnel was present for loads of scenes (like most of Girls Day Out) before the scene in the dining room.

Also, Girls Day Out is a cute song!

I know Doof not knowing what a ‘click’ was was supposed to be funny, but what IS a click?

Adulting is one of those really dumb songs that is SO FUNNY that it’s good.

They do love geysers in Phineas and Ferb

Super Super Big Doctor and Candace’s handshake was cute.

WE DESERVE THE POWER BALLAD WE WERE PROMISED!

Obsessive, volatile, enchanting? Candace. (Aka Isabella, Baljeet and Buford nail the ‘describe Candace in 3 words’ thing)

The canoe smacking Doof in the face is so funny.

“Super Super Big Doofus” – one of my favourite lines. Isabella is just SO done.

“Okay, Isabella, while I love ominous patch related threats more than anyone” *Ferb clears his throat* “Right, apart from Ferb. Big fan.” – My FAVOURITE line from the movie! And 2nd favourite line overall, behind the one about ant pheromones. Phineas gets all the greatest lines.

Isabella has a Swiss Army Knife! Reminds me that she falls into the ‘looks like a cinnamon roll but could actually kill you’ category.

Aww Baljeet so desperately wants to be in Buford’s gang in prison

Major Monogram has AWFUL timing.

The whole escapee scene was SO dumb. (I wrote on my notes that it was funny, but it kinda dragged. It was funny, but it was SO LONG) (We could’ve had a tiny Phinabella scene in the amount of time that scene dragged on for!) (Or Canderemy or Ferbnessa, literally anything)

“I’m not… not… special.” Yes Candace, you ARE special! You just don’t need to be used to feed a mind control plant, is all!

The Battle Song was really silly and I found it so funny. Also, SSBD is dumb!

#BuildingMakesWeirdTone

Isabella giving Doof a patch is such a cute, quick little scene!

I LOVED the super-meta 4th wall gag.

16-year-old Vanessa can do Adulting, while the kiddos must wait until they’re 18.

“Selfie mode!” on the Chicken-Replace-Inator makes me giggle

The Axe-Inator and the ‘hidden’ self-destruct button made me snort SO HARD. I loved it.

Anything Phineas says is a good idea, usually (in reference to Phineas using a Space Adventure episode to help them out of a sticky situation. Obviously Phineas knows what’s a good idea and what isn’t)

Kitty Isabella robot! (I saw Carly reference this on Twitter and I was so confused until this scene)

Jeremy: “There’s an alien invasion?” I snorted again.

The double canoe payoff! Also “Yeah, yeah, I’ll make you a patch!”

When Candace ran off crying! No, honey, it’s okay!

“I don’t even drink coffee, I can’t do anything right!” Candace, honey, you don’t have to drink coffee out of a mug, you know.

I want the mug please. Can the Disney store please sell it. I saw Vincent Martella had one, please someone sell me one!

Why does Jeremy have gas masks in the Slushy Dog van?

The Jeremy and Stacy interaction was so funny! Especially Stacy’s teasing!

All main evil villains on Phineas and Ferb get redemption arcs. Doof, 2D Doof, SSBD. You’re not a main villain unless you get a redemption arc. You’re just a secondary villain if you don’t get one.

The ‘Vroblok’ joke at first was really weird, but when the boys did the thing for ‘Vlorkl’, it really gave the joke a great payoff

“OH!” as someone (was it Jeremy and Stacy? I didn’t note it down!) goes through the ‘O’ of the radio tower. So punny!

Candace is the best big sister, not busting the boys because it truly wasn’t their fault.

I LOVE Us Against the Universe! The choreography where they jump forward with their hands on their hips is so cute, I love that move so much, I’m not sure why, but it’s great!

Perry dancing in UATU! So adorable!

Bad timing again, Major Monogram.

And for the end scene: Hmm, why did they make the portal out of such flammable materials?

I loved the movie! Yeah, a couple of things were a bit weird, it dragged a little in some places, but overall it was AMAZING, and it was super funny! I really hope we get another movie!

#pnf #Phineas and Ferb #catu #catu spoilers #candace against the universe #candace against the universe spoilers #phineas and ferb candace against the universe #phineas and Ferb Candace against the universe spoilers

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cassandra-tangled · 4 years

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SO, THIS DUDE. IF YOU WATCH DISNEY, READ THIS. WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT THIS DUDE!!!

It's a grainy picture, but let's talk about this dude!

This is Edwin George Lutz, professionally known as EG Lutz. If you like Disney, you LOVE Edwin, and I'll explain why in a minute.

Edwin is an unsung hero and pioneer in the history of animation. He is only even known to me because he was my great great grand uncle, I believe (he was my great grandmother's granduncle).

So, let's get into it. Edwin George Lutz was born August 26, 1868, in Philadelphia, PA, which is also my hometown. His parents, John Martin Lutz and Anna Ernestine Bachman Lutz, both died when he was young of tuberculosis, so, he and his three siblings were split up and he ended up moving to a farm with his brother, William.

At 11, Edwin was enrolled at Nazareth Hall, a boarding school that called itself a 'classical academy' which taught music, drawing, painting, greek, latin, french, etc. At 17, he enrolled in the Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Art, where he studied under Thomas Eakins, who is widely known to be an extremely influential American artist. To those of you familiar with the area, the school is now the Philadelphia Art Museum and University of the Arts (UArts), respectively. He studied at Académie Julian in France as well, when he was about 30.

Edwin was a successful artist, published in many a magazine and newspaper. But his biggest break still hadn't come, and he had no way of knowing what exactly his work could inspire.

Disney fans, you listening?

He published his most popular book, Drawing Made Easy, in 1921. It was published through the 70's. His most influential book, however, was Animated Cartoons - How they are made, their origin and development, published in 1920. It was the first book of its kind, the first book wholly dedicated to the new and emerging art of animated cartoons.

And, what would you know? Later that year, a certain Walt Disney checked out that book from the Kansas City Library, soon after it was published. It was documented that the book influenced him greatly in the early years of his work. Walt Disney himself stated that "finding that book was one of the most important and useful events in my life".

Disney provided the framework for the company that we all have grown up with, and all cherish close to our hearts to this day. It is obvious why Disney will go down in history, but let's not forget those who came before him--the unsung heroes such as Edwin who laid the very foundation for what was to come. Very few people, even Disney fans, have ever heard of him, and the only reason I have is because we're related. Edwin did not have children, so what's surviving of my family is sort of what descendancy he has left.

So, yeah, TL;DR: EG Lutz wrote a book that inspired/taught a young Walt Disney how to animate.

I wish he was alive to see the animation they pull off nowadays. It's truly amazing, and he will always have been so, so important in inspiring the creation of what we love.

THANK YOU EDWIN!

Ps I could be wrong but I believe the books are now public domain if you're interested!

Also, doesn't it make so much sense that I'm obsessed with Disney?

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superdorkcat · 4 years

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Upcoming Disney+ Originals (TV Shows)

One Day at Disney (December 3, 2019) - The documentary follows employees across the various divisions of the Walt Disney Company, taking a look at a day in the life of their jobs.

Diary of a Female President (2020) - The series is told through the narration of a Cuban-American 12-year-old girl’s diary, as she navigates the ups and downs of middle school and her journey to becoming the future president of the United States.

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2020) - Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes deal with the aftermath of Avengers: Endgame, in which Wilson was handed the mantle of Captain America.

Monsters at Work (2020) - Six months after the events of Monsters, Inc., the city of Monstropolis is now fueled with the sound of laughter. Tylor Tuskmon, a mechanic on the Facilities Team, dreams of working alongside his idols Mike Wazowski and James P. “Sully” Sullivan.

Earth to Ned (2020) - The comedic half-hour series follows Ned, a blue-skinned alien and his lieutenant Cornelius, who were sent to scout Earth for an eventual invasion - but instead became obsessed with our popular culture. Now, they host a talk show, broadcast from the bridge of their spaceship hidden deep underground, where they interview our most precious commodity, celebrities, to talk about Ned’s current pop culture obsessions. Ned will be bringing real-life celebrity guests to his ship from across the known universe and interviewing them, late night talk show style, in hopes of producing the ultimate talk show - making Ned a celebrity and putting him further off mission. And the more Ned learns about our human culture, the more obsessed he becomes.

Short Circuit (2020) - A program where anyone at the Walt Disney Animation Studios can pitch an idea and potentially be selected to create an original short film with the support of the Studio and their fellow artists.

Muppets Now (2020) - An unscripted series, the premise is unknown. The show will feature celebrity guests.

Be Our Chef (2019-2020) - The series invites families from diverse backgrounds to join a Disney-inspired cooking competition at Walt Disney World that’s positive and playful in tone. In each episode, two families will participate in a themed challenge based on their family traditions and the magic of Disney. The finalists will apply what they’ve learned to create a dish that represents their family through a Disney lens.

Cinema Relics: Iconic Art of the Movies (2019-2020) - An anthology series that takes a unique look at beloved films through the props and costumes that made them unique - from the craftspeople who created them, the actors who interacted with them, and the collectors/archives who own and cherish them

Into the Unknown: Making Frozen 2 (2019-2020) - As never before in its near-century long history, Walt Disney Animation Studios is opening its doors, allowing cameras to capture in intimate detail how the voice cast, directors, and team of artists come together to create “Frozen 2”. This multi-episode documentary series shows the hard work, imagination, heart, fun, and intensity that go into making one of the most anticipated Disney Animation features of all time.

Magic of the Animal Kingdom (2019-2020) - In the heart of Central Florida, a team of more than 1,000 highly respected animal care experts, veterinarians, and biologists perform groundbreaking work at Disney’s Animal Kingdom theme park and Epcot’s SeaBase aquarium. Now for the first time, National Geographic will offer viewers an all-access pass into the 24/7 world of the incredible animal caretakers running one of the most advanced veterinary facilities in the world.

Marvel’s 616 (2019-2020) - An anthological documentary series from Marvel New Media in partnership with Supper Club that explores the intersection between Marvel’s rich legacy of stories, characters and creators and the world outside your window. Each documentary will dive into the rich historical, cultural and social context that has become inseparable from stories of the Marvel Universe.

On Pointe (2019-2020) - The series will follow a year in the life of students at the New York City school as they go through rigorous training, auditions and preparations for the New York City Ballet’s annual performances of “The Nutcracker”.

(Re)Connect (2019-2020) - In each episode, a family will disconnect from their busy lives, devices and outside influences in order to address a relatable issue that’s driving a wedge between them. With the help of a specialized expert, each family will go on a unique journey to confront the family’s dilemma head on.

Rogue Trip (2019-2020) - Renowned journalist Bob Woodruff travels the world with his 27-year-old son, Mack, and visits all of the places your average tourist is least likely to venture - the roguish, often misunderstood and frequently overlooked corners of the world whose hidden corners surprise, amaze and inspire.

Shop Class (working title) (2019-2020) - A new competition series featuring teams of inventive students, who are tasked with designing, building, and testing new contraptions. In each episode a panel of experts will rate their work based on engineering, design, and the final test of the build.

Untitled Chip ‘n’ Dale series (2019-2020) - Plot unknown, the series will feature “classic style comedy”.

Loki (2021) - The series will follow the Loki who stole the Tesseract in Avengers: Endgame. Additional plot details are unknown, but the series will tie in to Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

WandaVision (2021) - The series will be a take on a superhero sitcom. Additional plot details are unknown. Similarly to Loki, the series will tie into Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

What If...? (2021) - The series explores what would happen if major moments from the Marvel Cinematic Universe occurred differently.

Hawkeye (2021) - The series will focus on Clint Barton passing the mantle of Hawkeye to Kate Bishop.

Untitled Cassian Andor series (2021) - The series is billed as a rousing spy thriller that will explore tales filled with espionage and daring missions to restore hope to a galaxy in the grip of a ruthless Empire.

Ink & Paint (2020-2021) - The documentary series, based on the book of the same name, tells the story of animation at Disney, and how an unsung workforce of trailblazing women helped create some of the greatest animated films of all time.

Earthkeepers (working title) (2020-2021) - The series is a cinematic documentary series that enters the adventurous lives of the people changing the way we see the animal kingdom. The episodes focus on conservationists and the animals they’ve devoted their careers to studying, diving deep into the personal trials and professional breakthroughs of protecting the planet’s most endangered species.

Big Shots (TBA) - The series follows a temperamental college basketball coach who gets fired from his job and must take a teaching and coaching job at an elite all-girls private high school.

Lizzie McGuire revival (TBA) - An update of the classic Disney Channel series that will follow the title character as a 30-year-old millennial navigating life in New York City.

Love, Simon (TBA) - The series is set in the same world as the 2018 film and focuses on a new student at Creekwood High School, Victor. The series follows his journey of self-discovery: facing challenges at home and struggling with his sexual orientation. He reaches out to Simon when it seems too difficult for him to navigate through high school.

Moon Knight (TBA) - The plot is unknown, but the series will introduce Moon Knight (Marc Spector) into the MCU.

Ms. Marvel (TBA) - The plot is unknown, but the series will introduce Ms. Marvel (Kamala Khan).

She-Hulk (TBA) - The plot is unknown, but the series will introduce She-Hulk (Jennifer Walters).

Untitled Obi-Wan Kenobi series (TBA) - The series will take place eight years after the events of Revenge of the Sith. The rest of the plot is unknown.

Becoming (TBA) - Each episode of the documentary-style series, shot in vérité, will visit a celebrity’s hometown, touring important locations that were central to their upbringing. A supporting cast of family members, coaches, teachers, mentors, and friends will also be interviewed, sharing anecdotes and insight into the star’s “becoming” story.

Behind the Attraction (TBA) - The series takes viewers into the history of how popular Disney attractions and destinations came to be, how they have changed over time, and how fans continue to obsess over them. The series will feature interviews with fans as well as Disney Imagineers and other people behind the scenes.

The Big Fib (TBA) - In this game show, two grown-ups claim to be experts on a topic and one of them is lying. It’ll be up to a kid contestant to try and figure out which one is telling “the big fib”.

Marvel’s Storyboards (TBA) - This series will follow Joe Quesada, Marvel’s Chief Creative Officer, as he explores the origin stories and creative drives of storytellers of all mediums, backgrounds, and experiences.

People & Places (TBA) - The series will present true stories from all around the glob about real - and extraordinary - people who embody the Disney ethos. A mix of up-and-coming and established filmmakers will be featured.

Explorer Academy (TBA) - The series will be “fact-based fiction”. The plot is unknown.

Life and Deaf (TBA) - The series is a comedy about a kid growing up in the ‘70s with deaf parents - and the mischief that ensues when, as their ears and mouthpiece, he’s given the “keys to the kingdom”.

The Proud Family revival (TBA) - The series will be revived according to the VA of Oscar Proud, Tommy Davidson. What the premise will be is unknown.

Untitled Mighty Ducks series (TBA) - The series focuses on a 13-year-old boy when he gets kicked off the junior division Mighty Ducks team, his mom decides to start their own team, finding players, a coach, and a place to play.

Untitled The Sandlot series (TBA) - Plot unknown, the series will be set in 1984 and focus on the kids of the original.

Untitled True Lies series (TBA) - Plot unknown. Mostly a reboot.

Untitled Willow sequel series (TBA) - Plot unknown.

#disney #disney+

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